Multnomah County Decides To Rid Itself Of Wapato Jail White Elephant
In the early 2000s, Multnomah County spent $58M to build a jail, but the facility was never actually used as a detention center. Now the county is trying to get something for the property — and developers are interested.
Recently, the county inked a deal with CBRE to market the Wapato County Jail Facility, at 14355 North Bybee Lake Court in Portland, as part of a larger contract to lease or sell surplus county properties.
With a footprint of 155K SF, the Wapato facility is on about 18.2 acres. Multnomah County built the complex in 2003, but the property has never been used as intended because the local government, hamstrung by voter-approved Measures 5 and 50, never had the money to operate it properly.
Heavy Industrial zoning in Portland allows for various potential uses, according to CBRE, including manufacturing and production, warehouse and freight movement, wholesale sales, self-service storage and vehicle repair.
There is at least an offer already: SoCal based Pacific Development Partners, which has developed retail and residential properties, said earlier this year it would pay $10M for the property. The county has not yet taken action on that offer.
“In this time of growing property values, Multnomah County is taking aggressive steps to get the most value for our surplus properties for the benefit of taxpayers,” Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said in a statement. “The team will be marketing Wapato and the other surplus properties to a wide pool of investors.”
CBRE Capital Markets' Graham Taylor and Charles Safley are marketing the never-used jail and site on behalf of the county.
Under the larger contract for leasing and transaction services Multnomah County struck with CBRE, Kristin Hammond, Ajay Malhotra and Dan Estes will provide leasing guidance on county-owned properties and occupier services.
Such efforts will supported by CBRE’s real estate platform, said CBRE Managing Director Jason Green, in the Portland office.
A number of surplus county properties will be for sale, including possibly the McCoy Building (426 SW Stark St.) and Central Courthouse (1021 SW Fourth Ave.) later this year or next.
