Finance Committee refers small southeast lot for sale to seed Fleet and Facilities opportunity fund

The Portland City Council Finance Committee voted 3-0 on Sept. 8 to refer to the full council an ordinance declaring a small lot at Southeast 20th Avenue and Powell Boulevard surplus and authorizing the city administrator to sell it at fair market value.

The lot, which the Bureau of Fleet and Facilities says was granted to the city in 1978 and whose ownership the bureau learned of only last year, was found in substantial disrepair. Maddie Sauter, director of the Bureau of Fleet and Facilities, said staff fenced and cleaned the parcel and now seeks to dispose of it so proceeds can seed an “opportunity fund” to help the bureau negotiate for and acquire other real property assets the city needs.

Sauter said the bureau is a cost-recovery organization and typically lacks advance funds for due diligence or earnest payments, so selling truly surplus parcels would allow it to be more strategic in a market in which the city estimates roughly $500 million in near-term real estate needs.

Pauline Goble, City Real Property Coordinator, told the committee the disposition followed the city’s City Real Property Disposition Process, Administrative Rule 13-02. Goble said staff provided a 21-day internal notice to other bureaus; none expressed interest, though some identified small assets on the site that would transfer with sale. Goble said staff also completed the 60-day public notification process, which included signage and mailed notices to residents within the radius required by the rule.

No members of the public signed up to testify on the item. The motion to refer the ordinance to City Council with a “due pass” recommendation was made and seconded; the roll-call vote recorded Councilor Pearl McKinney, Councilor Novick and Chair Zimmerman voting aye.

Committee members asked whether the Housing Bureau had been consulted as part of the internal notice process. Goble and Sauter said the Housing Bureau was contacted and had no need for the parcel because of its very small size—under 3,000 square feet—so it was not viable for housing or land banking.

The committee placed the matter on the consent docket for the full council with a recommendation that the ordinance be adopted.

The sale, if approved by council, will proceed at fair market value and the proceeds will be placed into the Fleet and Facilities opportunity fund described by Sauter. The city did not specify a listing price, buyer timeline, or anticipated closing date in the committee presentation.