I was driving into town from Macadam yesterday and couldn’t help but notice the big signs saying that 50 Luxury Condos were being auctioned off at the John Ross! (See their Press Release after the jump). Wow, how the mighty have fallen.

The Condo glut was aided and abetted by the City of Portland, OHSU, Homer Williams and the rest of the cast of characters who got what they wanted out of the deal and then left or stayed employed by the city and papered over excesses, lied about things such as the cost of parking spaces, “open” spaces, parks, and street cars.
Wow! Look at those fees! Gadszooks! 

Taxpayers will be on the hook for the costs of this unnecessary and costly infrastructure maintenance for years to come. The tram has become a white elephant and a symbol of hackneyed civic excess.
The people of Lair Hill, whose views were obstructed by these gangling towers and whose homes sit dead below the dangling tram were dumped on by the City in the name of fulfilling its destiny as a biotech hub.
The active citizens who opposed this imposition were derided as a bunch of Nimbys; the experts who foretold the Himalayan like climb confronting a future bio tech industry in Portland were dismissed as buzz kills and all were, in the end, right,  of course. But the government “knew” better. City officials, including Sam, Vera, Randy, Dan, Erik, the PDC and their favorite developer, city mascot Homer Williams, believed their business acumen made them qualified to choose winners and losers in the bio tech and housing marketplace. They were wrong of course.
They built hundreds of condos without adequate roads to get people in and out, putting vast millions of our tax dollars into street cars and trams that only a small fraction of people will ever use. The bio tech industry has stayed in the places where it was always big: La Jolla, Boston, Florida—not Portland. Private land owners were “encouraged” to “give” their land away to the City when it became obvious that the City wouldn’t grant permits for them to develop their own property,  citing phantom future light rail stations as one of  the culprits. Property takings by the City may be nearly impossible to calculate.

Portland took a flyer with our money. We all lost. I wonder who will be able to afford these condos—even at fire sale prices. We know the developers are taking a bath (here).

PORTLAND, OR. – Sunday, April 11th will be an exceptional opportunity for the Portland real estate market as Kennedy Wilson and Realty Trust team to auction off 50 luxury condominium homes at John Ross. Sleek and stylish, John Ross is one of the architectural highlights of Portland‘s desirable South Waterfront neighborhood and low starting bids at the auction are giving hope to homebuyers who have felt shut out of this appealing urban oasis.

Minimum Selling Prices for the homes at John Ross will be as low as $110,000 on 44 luxury condominiums previously priced from $184,000 to $549,000. Also included in the auction are six exquisite penthouses previously priced from $579,000 to $1,149,000. Minimum Selling Prices for these spectacular penthouse units start at just $290,000.