Troutdale Urban Renewal Agency votes to interview Time Equities-led team for Confluence site; panel composition approved

The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Troutdale voted unanimously to proceed with an interview of the sole respondent to a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the Confluence redevelopment site and approved the composition of the interview panel.

Agency staff said the RFQ, published in February and due April 4, produced one response from a development team led by Time Equities and including Ethos, NATO Development, Hacker Architecture and Brimett Construction. The Town Center Advisory Board (TCAB) reviewed that submission and recommended the agency conduct a public interview with the team; TCAB members said the responder’s concept plan shows a stronger emphasis on potential access to the Columbia Gorge Outlets and committed to community engagement but left many details to negotiation.

Board members emphasized that the RFQ response is a concept and that the negotiation phase is where the city must write binding protections into any agreement. Agency staff and TCAB members said key topics for the interview and subsequent negotiations will include phasing (what is guaranteed in phase 1 versus later phases), how commercial and hotel components will be pursued if market studies are unfavorable, protections for riverfront public space and buffering between public Riverwalk areas and ground-floor residential units, and tax-increment financing priorities.

The agency approved a motion to interview the respondent and set the interview date for May 15. The council-approved interview panel composition includes two agency board members, two TCAB members (TCAB chair and vice chair), two staff members and one or two local development professionals. Two board members volunteered to serve on the panel. The motion passed on a roll-call vote: Director White — yes; Director Davidson — yes; Director Lainey — yes; Director Andrews — yes; Director Allen — yes; Chair Rytmak — yes (tally: 6–0).

Staff said if the interview confirms the team is a viable partner, the agency would move into an exclusive negotiating agreement where detailed performance guarantees, phasing requirements and development obligations would be negotiated and written into contract documents. TCAB and council members repeatedly emphasized that the negotiation period, not the RFQ concept plan, must lock in access to the mall, phasing commitments, and protections for the Riverwalk and public spaces.

Public comment during the session included questions about site design, the balance of ownership units versus rental apartments, and how to ensure retail storefronts fill quickly rather than remain vacant during multi-phase development. One resident also raised an unrelated traffic-safety concern at Thirteenth Street and Southeast Harlow and agency staff said they would refer that request to public works and the community-resource deputy for follow-up.

The agency directed staff to schedule the interview and assemble the panel as approved. Further negotiation and any exclusive negotiating agreement would return to the agency for formal action.