ERIN TIERNEY/THE CHRONICLE – Springfield Economic Development Agency this week gave the OK for the city manager to pursue the purchase of 1.99 acres of Glenwood property, including this one at 4102 Franklin Boulevard.
GLENWOOD — Springfield Economic Development Agency hopes to refine the Glenwood area one tax lot at a time, and this week, approved the negotiation to purchase just under two acres of riverfront property for $1.214 million.
The 1.99 acres of property located at 4102 and 4150 Franklin Boulevard is owned by Claudia Powell of Ramsey Properties Limited Partnership out of Bend. It includes seven contiguous tax lots (numbers 500, 502, 504, 700, 800, 900 and 1000) and three small industrial structures located within the riverfront area. The conditions of the sale require that Ramsey Properties provide the property in a clean environmental condition and demolish and clear the existing buildings.
The property is zoned Glenwood Residential Mixed Use with Refinement Plan overlay designated as public roads and open space. The property was added to the Glenwood Urban Renewal Plan and identifies the site as entirely within the easternmost riverfront linear park block and surrounding public street, which provides street connectivity, stormwater management, and active open space for the Glenwood Riverfront area.
The Purchase and Sale Agreement will be entered into on March 31, with a closing date no later than July 1.
“That’s a good buy,” said councilor Steve Moe, a longtime Glenwood resident and development advocate, but reminded the board that it still hasn’t “fulfilled what was promised” to taxpayers since the Glenwood Urban Renewal Plan was first adopted in 2004.
The promise, Moe said, was that the tax money would be used for redeveloping properties to include new housing, parks, and commercial development — “a self-sustaining small city … We’ve been promised all this land would be used and developed into our new city of Glenwood. Tonight, we added to this block of land with no plans, only promises.”
Mayor Sean VanGordon said “from a development perspective about the property we own, we’ve gotten closer than we’ve ever been.”
The process is slow, though it is underway. In December, SEDA selected developers Edlen and Co. and deChase Miksis to develop another nine acres of Glenwood riverfront property. No definitive timeline was established, and the board did not seek specific development ideas or proposals for the site at that time; however, the Glenwood Refinement Plan dictates that the site includes a mix of commercial, employment and residential uses within a dense environment; accessible pedestrian, bike and vehicular connections to and through the site; public access to the riverfront; and open spaces.
Moe proposed that SEDA consider working with local developers and loaning out money to kickstart the infrastructure development. He said that, at an upcoming budget meeting, he will propose that SEDA set aside $200,000 to hire an economic specialist for Glenwood specifically.
“This is the person that interested builders will work with, who will assist, and endure bureaucratic nightmare zoning … to begin real development,” Moe said. “It’s time to quit talking and do something.”
