The buyer this time is Lake Oswego developer, Nick Bunick who wants the building and property for his charity, The Great Tomorrow, and to expand on its good works. Bunick outlined some of the endeavors planned for the Kruse Way property as cited in last week's Lake Oswego Review.
City Council to consider WEB purchase and sale agreement
Bunick suggested that not only will the city break even, it will end up saving money in the long run and will not have to relocate any of the facilities currently housed at 4101 Kruse Way.
The offer came across as ambitious and, to some, unclear, due to its multifaceted nature: Bunick has said he intends to use about 30,000 square feet of the 80,000-square-foot building as administrative offices for a child abuse resource organization; as offices for a program to both combat hunger and provide education to children in Southeast Asia; and as the headquarters of a newly founded research group called the Kruseway Cancer Treatment Corporation.
The prolific developer and spiritual author has proven his mettle with local construction projects, and the move toward a purchase and sale agreement would allow the city to finally unload a property that costs it about $1.5 million annually in loan payments and operation expenses.
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The sticking point may be the 1.3 acre landlocked parcel that has natural resources on it - tree grove and wetlands. Councilor Hughes rightly pointed out that it would not be fair to ignore this Sensitive Lands designation for city convenience when regular citizens have to deal with the loathsome effects of the regulations with no relief. Mr. Bunick if erred that he must have access to build on that property in order to compete the deal.
There is a legal question as to whether or not the parcel ever had the Sensitive Lands designation because it was challenged by then-owner Safeco. Since there was never an attempt to formally deal with the challenge (and why not?), technically the land is free from the SL overlay. The Council could place the designation on the property now if it so chose, but the Redevelopment Director, Brant Williams, suggested a restrictive covenant instead.
The decision to sell the WEB property a long with the 1.3 acre parcel was passed, even though no decision about the status of a zone change from PNA (Public Natural Area) to Office Campus / Research & Development could be made at last night's meeting. How will the city deal with what is obviously considered Sensitive Lands under the current regulations? What is fair to citizens who have had to work within its (expensive) limitations? Will Bunick assist the city in removing restrictions on such property? We'll see.
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