At the Town Hall AM meeting held June 20th, a group of property owners that includes both private property owners and David Douglas School District spoke on their proposed redevelopment of 10-acres of property near the Gateway Transit Center. The group has asked Prosper Portland to reserve up to $13 million of Gateway urban renewal funds to invest in the project. The development has the opportunity to leverage approximately $300 million of private investment and be a catalyst for Gateway. The proposed development includes:

Space for major East Portland workforce training providers, including Mt. Hood Community College; A new K-5 educational facility on the southwestern portion of the site owned by David Douglas School District; Mixed-use and mixed-income housing, with a focus on senior housing to address the needs of aging East Portland residents; and Ground floor retail and other commercial uses.

Prosper Portland supports this project as it builds a regional anchor for Gateway; provides workforce training that increases access to jobs for East Portland residents; and creates new opportunities for small businesses with the potential to focus on minority, woman and immigrant and refugee owned businesses.

Prosper Portland has hired MultiCultural Collaborative (MCC) to help engage the community in identifying and prioritizing public outcomes based on the public investment requested. MCC will facilitate six focus groups structured to ensure Gateway’s diverse community voices are heard, particularly within communities of color and the immigrant and refugee communities.”

Those of us who attended the meeting were asked to fill out a questionnaire of our priorities for the project. For those of you who did not attend below is a link to the survey for you to share your priorities: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NE102ND