Feeling the pressure

TriMet is seeking to expand its downtown transit mall project, and the end result could be even less on-campus housing for students.

Lisa Long is one of those private owners currently battling TriMet to keep her property. According to Long, a TriMet representative contacted her in November 2008 expressing interest in buying her property at 517 S.W. College St.

“They said, ‘You need to sell us your building’ and I said ‘I don’t want to,’ and they said ‘Well, you do,'” Long said.

The building, owned by Long and her husband since 2003, is an apartment that houses three units. If successfully acquired, it will be incorporated into the Portland Mall Light Rail project, dubbed “The Next Big Thing Downtown” by TriMet. The property would help expand the MAX turnaround at Portland State.

Started in 2007, the $556 million Green Line project will start running from Union Station to Portland State in 2009, and will eventually connect the downtown transit mall to Clackamas.

Long said she had hired a lawyer to take care of the situation and cannot comment on it.

Portland Spectator editor Sarah Christensen is one of a number of students living in the apartment. According to Christensen, TriMet inspected the apartment on Feb. 9.

“I was notified about the inspection taking place, but I haven’t received any follow up,” she said. Christensen said it would be unfortunate to lose the property, as it would force her to move, perhaps in the middle of the term.

“I really hope that I don’t have to move,” she said. “Moving in the middle of a term or even in a break is really difficult, and it’s such a great location and perfect for school. It would be sad.”

Jillian Detweiller, the Senior Land Development Planner for TriMet, said the intention of purchasing the property is to help promote transit-oriented development. 

TriMet follows federal regulations in regard to property development, Detweiller said.

“It’s a pretty rigid process that is design to protect the interest of the owner [and] that still allows the public to benefit,” she said. “There’s an established procedure, federal law that requires the appraisal to be fair to the owner. If they’re not happy they can make a counter offer.”

As for what the property will be used for, Detweiller said TriMet is currently in the process to working it out, however, “because the property is zoned for much higher intensity use, it’s going to serve the high level of transit that we offer in the region.”

Aside from formal negotiation, TriMet can also use its eminent domain power, which states that a government entity has the right to purchase and acquire private properties for public use and development even if private owners, such as Long, refuse to sell the property.

“City policy, TriMet policy, is to make better use of the land when we acquire the building,” DetWeiller said.