One of three large city-equipped tent camps is being finalized by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office to reduce unsanctioned public camping. It look like it will be at the site of a former church property. The large property located on Northeast Glisan Street between 88th and 90th avenues is across the street from the historic Brainard Cemetery and Columbia Christian Schools. It sits exactly five blocks west of Interstate 205.
Volunteers of America Oregon purchased the site, along with a vacant lot across Northeast 90th Avenue, for $3.5 million in 2021, property records show. The property includes a pair of asphalt parking lots as well the 50,000-square-foot building that housed Central Bible Church until the congregation held its final service in early 2020.
The Portland City Council voted in November to ban homeless camping by 2024 and, in an effort to make that legal, approved creation of six city-run campsites with sanitary and other services, each for between 150 and 250 people. Mayor Wheeler’s office has been working to finalize locations for the first three encampments. He has committed up to $27 million to build and operate for a year.
The mayor has yet to say where he plans to locate any of the large supervised tent encampments he wants to open as part of his drive to ban homeless street camping citywide. But his staff has said the city has secured letters of intent to lease two locations, which are both privately owned, and plans to purchase a third property.
Mayor Wheeler’s office began checking out the location of the church site several months ago. The city secured a letter of intent to lease two of the locations. The city also appears likely to place another of the large city-outfitted camps at a large industrial property on Southeast Powell Boulevard between 13th and 16th avenues, near the Brooklyn and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods.
