Update: Multnomah County Signs Off On Sale Of Wapato Jail
Multnomah County commissioners approved the sale of the Wapato Jail for $10.8M, a price that represents a steep loss for the county, which spent $58M on its construction in 2004. Annual upkeep since then has cost about $300K.
The facility, at 14355 North Bybee Lake Court in Portland, had periodically been rented to movie production companies as a set, but it was never used as a detention facility, The Oregonian reports.
The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner Loretta Smith voting no. Smith had previously stated that the facility should be repurposed as a homeless shelter or offer related services, though the site is not zoned for that use.
The buyer is Portland developer Marty Kehoe. He plans to convert the 155K SF facility, which is on 18.2 acres, into distribution and storage space for a medical equipment company.
The board then voted unanimously to use the proceeds of the sale for the development of affordable housing. The county, the City of Portland and Home Forward (formerly the Housing Authority of Portland) previously pledged to develop at least 2,000 units of supportive housing by 2028, but that plan had no funding.
CBRE Portland marketed the property on behalf of Multnomah County.
