Last Wednesday, Portland Police Bureau finally cleared out and shuttered the Washington Center building downtown. It had become a dreaded open-air drug dealing market. It has been reported that Portland police had responded to 11 overdoses during the first weekend in April. Three of those calls ended in death.
The vacant property is at Southwest 4th Avenue and Washington Street. Overdoses had become too much for the city. The Washington Center is privately owned by Menashe Properties. According to the property owner, the last tenant was Verizon, which occupied a full floor of one of the buildings.
Mayor Ted Wheeler said, “I want to express my gratitude to the many people who have been working to bring solutions to this site. These efforts required close coordination among the community and numerous city bureaus and offices to reclaim a private property that has posed significant safety challenges downtown.”
“I am continuing to restaff our police bureau and maintain the positive momentum we gained here. I am working closely with the governor to increase capacity at the state academy to get our recently hired police officers out on the streets more quickly. We are also pleased to be working with Oregon State Police to address other safety issues in the community, including street takeovers, DUII investigations and general traffic enforcement. These strong partnerships are critical to revitalizing our city,” said Mayor Wheeler.
The place described by police would remind a person of a few scene of the Carter build located in the movie New Jack City. Police described the inside of the abandoned building as filled with litter, mold and feces. It was also a place where people were living. Officers had to use battering rams to break down locked doors to see if there were squatters still living inside the former retail and office building. Following a walkthrough of the building, officials began boarding up doors and alcoves to prevent future entrance.
Some residents are relieved. In a 12-hour span on March 31, police said nearly a dozen overdoses believed to be fentanyl-related were reported around downtown Portland, three of which resulted in death.
