Beam may finally get the Burnside Bridgehead
Seven years ago, a big story in the local blogosphere was how the Portland Development Commission, under the leadership of Don "The Don" Mazziotti and Matt "I Have a Little Problem" Hennessee, apparently stole the Burnside Bridgehead project from Beam Development and gave it to an outfit called Opus Northwest. The process at the time seemed rigged.
The whole flap, which went on for months, became completely irrelevant when the economy started to slide. At that point, nobody wanted the Bridgehead deal (on the east side of the Burnside span) any more.
Fast forward to today, and now Beam is back with some activity down that way. At this point, the city will take just about anything on that pathetic site. Let's hope that we taxpayers don't wind up paying for too much nonsense, no matter who's dealing it.
| Posted at 7:48 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
Developments of this scale need a free market anchor tenant or a large government agency. Both need parking. Parking is the anathema to the twits that support city hall. The only activity I see for the near future is a parade of consultants and their sycophants.
Posted by David E Gilmore | March 23, 2012 7:07 AM
Those empty 5 blocks still owned by the PDC, which were designated to be given away to Home Depot, are a blank monument to the continued malfeasance of the PDC, no matter who is involved with that organization.
Posted by Portland Native | March 23, 2012 8:44 AM
Just make it a public park.
Just like Metro took a restaurant, razed and demolished it, let it languish for awhile, and decided that the visitors of the Convention Center needed to be able to hold their prayer vigils properly facing the Church of Planning (the old Sears Building); while those praying within the temple can gaze over at their monument thanking the sun for the mass of land that was 20 years ago destroyed and bulldozed over to make way for a huge parking lot and a largely empty building that is at best a very, very attractive warehouse. That occassionally holds events like the Portland International Auto Show.
Posted by Erik H. | March 23, 2012 9:39 AM
Let's hope that we taxpayers don't wind up paying for too much nonsense, no matter who's dealing it.
This being Portland, I'd say that notion has little hope. Remember, no one's going to want it unless it "pencils out".
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | March 23, 2012 9:43 AM
If all you got is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.
Why does every square inch of this town have to be "redeveloped" by a "developer"?
There are other ways to improve areas- like tax incentives for certain types of businesses (like say if we wanted to create a music district).
Posted by Tim | March 23, 2012 9:58 AM
Why does every square inch of this town have to be "redeveloped" by a "developer"?
That's what more and more people are starting to wonder, and the more the word gets out, the better. Local paid-for media is too afraid to raise the question.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | March 23, 2012 12:34 PM
And now "The Don" has slipped past the border guards into Beaverton where he is working his magic on us suburban hicks.
Posted by TheOtherDave | March 23, 2012 1:30 PM
I liked the old skeleton of a building that once graced the site -- a warning to other developers. A landlocked Peter Iredale.
Ironworkers traditionally put an evergreen tree upon the last girder placed in a skyscraper. Here we put a bird on it.
Posted by Old Zeb | March 23, 2012 6:42 PM
In Portlandia, we the taxpayers get "the Bird" from the planners and developers.
Posted by portland native | March 24, 2012 11:36 AM