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The Portland School Board will vote Tuesday on a proposed $16 million building purchase for its Center for Black Student Excellence.
Portland Public School’s proposal is to acquire the One North development at 3506-3514 N. Vancouver Avenue and 25 N. Fremont, St, in the heart of the Albina neighborhood. The development is comprised of two buildings, both constructed in 2015, with about 72,000 square feet of space, according to a district staff memo. (An appraisal the district obtained in May valued the property at $15.2 million.)
Money for the project would come from the district’s 2020 bond, which allocated $60 million to the Center for Black Student Excellence, a space that “comprises both physical and programmatic components to advance student success and community connection,” according to a School Board resolution. The center has faced its fair share of delays ever since that bond’s approval. In May, a 38-member coalition of nonprofit and community organizations demanded the district take steps to secure a building by Dec. 1.
“PPS could not build a building like the One North property for anywhere close to $16 million, and PPS expects the building to be largely move-in ready for many of its component uses,” the staff memo reads. “Other options explored by PPS, working with its commercial real estate broker, did not yield a better, more cost-effective option.”
The staff memo notes that due diligence will follow after the district executes the purchase and sale agreement for the property, including physical and environmental inspections and suitability. The purchase and sale agreement will not be binding after Tuesday’s meeting, but will “allow for PPS to conduct thorough due diligence and for the building not to be sold to any other purchaser during this time.”
The School Board will vote on whether or not to proceed with the purchase after 90 days of due diligence. Before Tuesday’s meeting, plans for the CBSE’s physical building have largely stayed internal and have not gone through the School Board. It is not immediately clear when that due diligence period will begin, or when the School Board will have its final vote.
The CBSE’s acquisition also comes at a shaky time for the facilities staff at PPS. Dan Jung, the longtime chief operating officer who had overseen several modernization projects, left the district in June. Stormy Shanks, who headed the Office of School Modernizations at the district, has also submitted her resignation from her position.
The seller of the One North property requires any transaction with the district close by Dec. 29. The purchase and sale agreement lists the seller as Karuna Properties II LLC and Karuna Properties II West, LLC.
PPS will also need to determine how it will operate such a center during its due diligence period. It will need to assess requirements for anticipated uses aligned with the CBSE vision; develop operating budgets and “staffing plans for the building maintenance”; and engage community partners involved in programming, according to the staff memo.
