City officials hope colleges buy land

MILWAUKIE, Ore. – City officials are hoping that three local schools will band together to buy a 7.8-acre parcel of land to create a college campus – and in so doing, force Wal-Mart to abandon its plans to build a flagship store at the site.

The idea would be to have the three schools – Portland State University, Clackamas Community College and Oregon Institute of Technology – buy the land from owner Howard Dietrich Jr., who in June announced plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Dietrich’s Wal-Mart proposal has sparked protest from southeast Portland residents, Metro Councilor Robert Liberty and Portland Commissioner Sam Adams, who say it would hurt local businesses.

Milwaukie Mayor Jim Bernard said Tuesday that he hopes to also contact private companies that might have the money to buy the land, which has a market value of $2.6 million.

In a news release last week, Dietrich announced that he was giving TriMet 90 days to buy the property, long considered a potential light-rail station.

When TriMet didn’t make an offer, “the developer was forced to explore other options, including that of leasing the property to the national retailer Wal-Mart,” Dietrich’s statement said.