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Portland Public Schools released a feasibility report for its Center for Black Student Excellence on Monday.
Voters approved a $60 million earmark for the CBSE in the 2020 school bond. (This money may be used only for capital expenses.) The center is intended as a space to improve outcomes for Black students across PPS by offering them support through community partners and culturally sensitive curriculum. (The district has emphasized the center would be open to all students.)
In early September, the School Board approved the district to begin considering the One North property at North Vancouver Avenue and Fremont Street as a location for the center. These documents emerge out of the due diligence work that the district began after that approval.
The planning documents, released Monday, are significant for two reasons. First, the feasibility report offers the most substantive look yet at what has until now been a blurry vision for an ambitious program. Second, it includes cost estimates that had not been previously discussed.
The report is by Adre, a real estate development firm, and LEVER Architecture. It is by no means a final draft, but rather intended to show preliminary ideas around programming and design concepts. It concludes that with modifications, the space could accommodate the desired programming for the CBSE, and opens a window into what that would look like.
The new building would have six categories of programming. The Innovation Hub would support computer and STEM labs, classrooms, and related learning spaces, and the Center for Arts & Culture would include art studios and a cultural archive. Community-oriented spaces include a family wellness program, Joyce Harris Event Center (with a commercial kitchen and performance space), and a community collaboration center. There would also be office space for administrators and community organizations.
“The new categories eliminate ambiguity by naming spaces in ways that intuitively align with their purpose,” the report reads. “This clarity improves the experience for first-time users and fosters a sense of belonging for all navigating the space.”
The One North property has two spaces, an East and West building. “The East Building is envisioned as a convergence point for student-focused gatherings, community-oriented organizations, and CBSE workspaces,” the report reads. “The West Building primarily serves as a hub for specialized student learning, creative programming, and non-CBSE commercial tenants.”
It’s clear, however, that executing such programming would require more financial commitment from PPS than the purchase of the building alone. The district’s current plan would have it spend $16 million on the building sale, but the work plans indicate other capital expenses the district would need to consider.
For starters, both the East and West buildings of One North are currently at a “B” occupancy level, for office space, but would need to be changed to an “E” occupancy for education. Structurally, the mass timber building will need to meet requirements for seismic, wind and snow load that are stricter than the “B” occupancy requirements, meaning the district would need to spend on those upgrades to bring the buildings up to code.
A longer building assessment report by Interface Engineering, Bassetti Architects, and KPFF, a structural engineering firm, concludes that certain parts of the building, including ventilation and plumbing, are also aging, and that the water heater should be replaced. The district would also have to construct a commercial kitchen and dining area to execute some of its programming on the third floor, where the event center would be housed. The feasibility study notes that “the building type requires more frequent maintenance than the standard 20-year PPS building schedule.”
District spokeswoman Valerie Feder on Wednesday morning confirmed to WW that PPS has obtained rough estimates of $21 million to $25 million “for building improvements for the program and occupancy compliance.”
The long-term vision for the CBSE is that PPS would generate income from existing and new tenants who would rent out portions of the One North development. In calculating how much income current tenants are generating so far, the feasibility study assumes the CBSE and community organizations would occupy 73% of the space and that 27% would be rented by future tenants.
The report finds that in 2024, the building generated $465,111 in income and its operating expenses were $736,494. That means the district would have had to invest $271,383 that year to make up the difference. “It is highly recommended to retain existing tenants and consolidate CBSE functions within specific floor plates to maintain flexibility for potential future rentable spaces,” the report reads.
PPS must also consider how students would arrive at the CBSE, presuming that it aims to serve students from across the district. While the One North Property rates favorably in its walk and bike scores, the report found limited parking available for public use and that students would have to navigate busy streets for pickup and drop-off, and suggested the district consider a couple of adjacent sites for those purposes.
The report recommends that the district streamline construction phases in a process that would take 36 months to complete, gradually ramping up student programming in the building. PPS plans to conclude due diligence work on the property in December to determine whether to acquire the property. Its sellers require the district to close any deal on One North by Dec. 29.
