Bayside Federated Companies

On the agenda looks like the City Council is looking to revisit the somerset lots especially Lot 6 where the garage was planned. The order is to bring condemnation to Lot 6 (aka take the land) to Federated to get the garage built. Stay tuned...
 
So far as we know, there's nothing binding on the city in the NIMBY settlement, is there? Meaning, in today's climate the city could legally find a new developer to build Midtown as originally proposed if that were mutually agreeable?
 
markhb said:
So far as we know, there's nothing binding on the city in the NIMBY settlement, is there? Meaning, in today's climate the city could legally find a new developer to build Midtown as originally proposed if that were mutually agreeable?
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Getting Federated entirely out of the picture is really the best path forward, but I doubt any new developer would just take the 2013 plans and resubmit them, (and they wouldn't be in compliance with new regulations anyway)

These parcels are a golden opportunity and it's pathetic that this empty trash-filled void has existed for so long right in the middle of the peninsula. A <15 minute walk can get you to 3 grocery stores, lots of hot breweries and restaurants, the arts district and the Old Port, plus easy access to the Bayside and Back Cove trails . It's perfect for high-density, transit-oriented housing. I'm hopeful that whatever development ends up occurring here won't be centered around a massive parking garage. Building new parking is very inconsistent with local and regional planning strategies, and is a very outdated planning practice overall.

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An interesting tidbit from the appraisal in the City Council packet:

To the best knowledge of the appraiser the subject property is not currently offered for sale or subject to any options. It has been reported by brokers in the local market that the subject owners have received offers in the past in the $13 to $15 Million range for all 4 lots, which were not accepted as the owners were seeking a price in the range of $20 to $24 Million. It was also reported by local brokers that the seller may consider selling the parcels separately
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It sounds like Federated wants out too, but may just be waiting for an opportune time to sell. (Lots 1,3 and 7)
 
Does anyone know if the city is still making efforts to get E. Perry Metal and Iron to relocate? As I recall, there were two scrapyards in operation in Bayside not too long ago, and the city was encouraging them to relocate, which one did.
 
Cosakita18 said:
Getting Federated entirely out of the picture is really the best path forward, but I doubt any new developer would just take the 2013 plans and resubmit them, (and they wouldn't be in compliance with new regulations anyway)
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Understood; I was really getting at the idea that the height reductions, etc. were just an agreement between Federated and the opposition, not something that could prevent the next developer from doing what they wanted.
 
As I understand it, deed restrictions dissolve if/when a government seizes property by eminent domain. So a couple things are going on here:
  1. With the deed restriction - i.e, if the lot can only be used for a parking garage - the land has *negative* value. In other words, the market definitely doesn't want a parking garage on this site.
  2. If Portland seizes the land, the deed restriction goes away – and the lot could potentially be used for other (better) purposes, if the HUD loan can be negotiated.
 
I think there's scant demand for the parking garage absent the rest of the buildout; IIRC the plan was that the city got the HUD loan to build the garage to provide parking for whatever else would be built on the parcels. If Trader Joe's, in particular, still doesn't allow access to their building from the Bayside Trail (same direction as the garage) then the garage won't help with their parking situation either.
 
Also worth remembering that the garage was planned over 20 years ago (!) in the "New Vision for Bayside" plan - which, I think it's safe to say in hindsight, was an overall failure.

One of the assumptions of that 1990s-era Bayside plan was that the "Midtown" lots would be developed with office buildings. Back then, the city's economic development office was still focused on bringing in commuter-oriented "jobs" while neglecting the city's housing needs, which is one of the big reasons we're still catching up from a decades-long drought in new housing.

Offices for suburban commuters have much higher demand for parking than downtown residences, which, we now know, is what Midtown is likely to be (if anything ever gets built there). So I'm hoping that the city takes the opportunity to reevaluate the plan, given how most of it has grown irrelevant over the past 2 decades.
 
I served on a board that looked at various proposals for this land. A lot of work and workshops went into the design of the garage. I would like to see a transportation hub, Greyhound currently has no home and could use this as a hub, including saco bus, metro, etc. we need housing
 
And the drama continues…

Federated is suing the city over it’s seizure of Lot 6

www.pressherald.com

Developer sues Portland over decision to reclaim vacant lot using eminent domain

The company behind a defunct redevelopment project in Bayside is challenging a city decision to seize Lot 6 at 59 Somerset St., though the city says it is acting within the law and the suit is meritless.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com

Personally, I'm looking forward to these parcels being vacant for another 10 years....
 
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Not sure how eminent domain can figure into this. It seems like a stretch. The city should have worked with Federated with the 4 "tower" proposal. Varying the heights from low, mid, to high and compromising on materials to use mostly brick and glass could have been achieved. (The proposal drawings looked like kitschy public housing.) Federated is in no hurry to sell or develop these lots. With all of the new regulations in place to build housing, and with housing in great demand, sitting on lots in a prime area of Portland is a smart investment. It will only increase and increase in value. Thanks to the city, it's a much better strategy to buy premium land and sit on it until someone comes along and buys it, somewhat naively. And that will happen, eventually. This area developed right could have a been a center point for living and social life in Portland. Maybe in 2050 we'll see something.
 
The City took Lot 6, the intended location of the parking garage, and paid Federated $10 for it. The parties have agreed to drop the other, complicated lawsuit in favor of a simple "the city needs to pay us more money", which may or may not resolve everything as Federated says in the article they're planning more litigation.
 
This old relic was mentioned in another thread, which sent me down a PACER rabbit hole trying to find the status of the cases between Federated and the city. What I found to save others the effort:
  • The civil docket number for the case is 2:21-cv-00327-JDL
  • Federated is listed as plaintiff under the name FEDEQ DV004 LLC (which means you'll find nothing if you search for Federated)
  • Latest entry in the docket report is revised scheduling, at Federated's request due to their changing lawyers and having pretty much gone through most of the law firms in the city: Reset Scheduling Order Deadlines - per Order on Motion to Amend Scheduling Order: Discovery due by 1/19/2024. Written Notice of Intent to File Summary Judgment Motion and Request for Pre-Filing Conference due by 2/2/2024. Motions due by 2/16/2024. Ready for Trial on 4/1/2024. (jwr) (Entered: 09/15/2023)
So, the comment in another thread that no one seems to be in a hurry on this appears to be correct :) .
 
Good find!! We'd be lucky if we had any kind of concrete idea of the future of the Midtown site by this time next year...and we'll likely be stuck with a giant gaping hole in the heart of the peninsula for at least several years after that.

I really wish Federated could just cut their losses, sell the land to a local developer and P!$$ off...but I know it can never be that simple.
 
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Probably more valuable than they were 10 years ago, but I don't think these lots are appreciating as fast as other parts of the city, thanks to worsening outlooks for flooding and sea level rise in this neighborhood.

Even in the first version of this project, the developers were going to spend a lot of money (and also asked for a lot of financial help from the city) to raise the level of Somerset and Chestnut Street. IIRC they were only planning to raise it 10 feet above sea level, but it's getting harder and harder to insure projects that are less than 12 feet above, and lots of coastal developers are aiming for +15' now. So it's gonna be a very expensive site to develop.
 
I would think the value of the land would continue to rise especially if entitled for high density residential. I was very skeptical when Federated was chosen as their portfolio at the time looked to be a bunch of low-rise multi-family development and wondered if the high rise proposals out of the gate was to eventually compromise will low to mid-rise development they were more familiar with. But the lawsuits took care of all that.
Does anyone recall the RFQ/RFP process where the developers & proposals these parcels went through?
 
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