News In the competition between two powerful Portland clans to develop the Morrison Bridgehead property, a selection committee has given the nod to the Mark family's plans for a Seattle-style public market.The four-block property on the west bank of Willamette River stands at a primary entrance to downtown Portland and is currently occupied by surface parking lots. The committee's recommendation will go ...   More

Multnomah County Multnomah County’s drive to sell some prime downtown Portland real estate has pitted two of the city’s wealthiest and most influential families in competition to    More

News  Two of Portland's wealthiest and most powerful families are competing to buy and develop a potentially iconic property on the downtown Willamette River waterfront.Multnomah County is selling off the four-block parcel at the west end of the Morrison Bridge. The four blocks are currently occupied by surface parking lots.The county and the Portland Development Commission put out a request for proposals ...   More

News One of the biggest questions hanging over downtown Portland is how City Hall would deal with a sticky, big-dollar problem: who would get the contract to manage six city-owned Smart Park garages. In 2003, the city awarded the business to the Schlesinger family's Star Park and a consortium of minority chambers of commerce. In so doing, the city ended the 18-year stranglehold by the Goodman ...   More

News One protest down, one to go. As WW reported earlier, the city's two biggest parking companies are plenty steamed about the City of Portland's April 28 announcement that it planned to award a three-year contract to manage six city-owned SmartPark garages to a Nashville firm. The SmartPark garages, which charge motorists the lowest fees in Portland—$1.50 per hour for the first four hours—are ...   More

News Last week, the city's two biggest parking companies protested the City of Portland's announcement that it intended to award a three-year contact to manage six city-owned SmartPark garages to a Nashville firm, Central Parking System. The protest by the Goodman family's City Center Parking and the Schlesinger family's Star Park effectively united two rivals who compete hard for parking. In ...   More

News Last week the Portland Bureau of Transportation issued some startling news: that it intended to award the contract to manage nearly 4,000 city-owned parking spots in six city-owned garages to a Nashville firm, Central Parking System. That news came as an unpleasant jolt to the city's dominant parking company, the Goodman family's City Center Parking, which controls a majority of parking garages ...   More

News On June 30, Portland City Council will hold what may be one of its most intense hearings this year. Two prominent families who own big pieces of downtown property —the Goodmans, who own City Center Parking and 25 downtown blocks; and the Schlesingers, who own Star Park and a smaller but significant amount of property— will turn out to voice their displeasure with the city's intention ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams abruptly shifted direction today on a controversial contract to manage six city-owned Smart Park garages. Adams' spokesman Roy Kaufmann told WW this afternoon that the scheduled June 30 council hearing on the $10 million annual contract has been postponed indefinitely for "additional due diligence" to address concerns. Adams oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation, which ...   More