Northrup shelter lease is for 12 years
Mayor Wilson had indicated to residents that the deal would be for two to three years
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson had announced the signing of a “two- or three-year” lease with Vanessa Sturgeon to use her commercial building at 1435 NW Northrup St. for a 200-bed homeless shelter. But the lease signed by Sturgeon and the city on May 27 is for 12 years, and it limits use of the 16,000 square-foot space “only for shelter for unhoused individuals and associated sheltering services.”
If overnight shelters are to be a short-term solution until more lasting solutions to the city’s homeless crisis can be enacted, why is 2037 the expiration date?
The city can terminate the lease earlier, but penalties may apply.
The lease, obtained through a public records request, has other surprising details:
The city will apply for a property tax exemption that would save Sturgeon’s company that was created for this property, North Pearl LLC, from an annual tax bill of about $42,000. She currently owes $63,000 for property taxes in 2023 and 2024.
Another element of the lease is a confidentiality clause that states: “Tenant shall not record the lease,” a normal practice in commercial leases that protects tenants from eviction should the landlord lose control of the property.
The monthly rental rate is $18,000, which is set to increase by 3 percent annually after year five.
While voters were promised an end to unsanctioned camping by Dec. 1, much longer time periods were contemplated and formalized behind the scenes.
If Mayor Wilson told the neighborhood it was a 2-3 year lease, and then without any public engagement the city approved a 12 year lease- and threw in a $42,000 property tax exemption to boot, he needs to have a town hall meeting and explain this discrepancy! Are any other city shelter leases for 12 years, or just in Northwest/Pearl area.
Gee, the Mayor lied his a-- off to the neighborhood.
Whoulda' thunk?
And Sturgeon the multimillionaire real estate heir Sturgeon won't timely pay the real estate taxes. nd her buddies in the Mayors office are going to work out a 12 year long re tax exemption for her going forward by applying for a "city leased" building exemption.
EAT THE RICH!