By Brian Hoop
The former Linnton Mill office building is up for sale again after just recently changing ownership in 2020. The building, located at St. Helens Rd. and NW 105th, is the last remaining vestige of Linnton’s past ties to the timber industry.
A small but dedicated group of Linnton residents had high hopes of transforming the building into an educational and research facility tied to the Willamette River Superfund site. The group, led by John Shaw, formed a nonprofit in 2019 called the Linnton Mill Office Education and Research Center (LMOREC) to implement this vision. Learn more at LMOERC.org.
Unfortunately, those visions may now go unrealized as earlier tentative understandings in support of that vision with the developers of the mill site, RestorCap, evaporated with the 2020 sale to a developer who appears intent on now flipping the property. This despite RestorCap’s website stating, “We remain committed to respecting the mill’s rich history, with the old administration building to serve as a research center for university students and office space for local nonprofits.”
What happened?
The building was originally the administrative office of the former Clark and Wilson Lumber Company, one of several mills located along Linnton’s industrial waterfront. Later the mill was operated as an employee-owned company until closing in 2000 and remained vacant until RestorCap’s purchase in 2015.
Oakland-based RestorCap raises private capital to invest in environmental restoration projects and restored the Linnton mill site as a salmon habitat mitigation project tied to selling “credits” to industries responsible for polluting the Willamette River.
Without a written agreement of how ownership would be transferred, a core group of the nonprofit’s volunteers organized work parties over an 18-month period to begin cleaning up the building. They removed debris, developed restoration plans, and secured professional renovation bids. Tours were provided and twenty local organizations provided letters of support for the project.
The nonprofit had secured three letters of intent to lease space in the future Linnton Mill Office Education & Research Center including an organization that intended to use almost all of the main floor space and two environmental groups who wanted to lease storage space.
Ownership changes lead to new uncertainty
In 2020, the nonprofit became concerned when RestorCap representatives stopped responding to their communications. Multiple offers to purchase the building were submitted but were not responded to and the group was advised the property would be listed. The building sold in 2021 to developer Yi Lin for $750K. Rumors indicated the facility was intended to be used as a cabinet woodworking shop.
Soon after, trees along the rail tracks were cut down, a chain link fence was installed surrounding the perimeter, and a new coat of paint was added. Alarmed neighbors discovered no permit was secured to cut down the trees as required by City code.
Independent of the neighborhood-led efforts, Conrad Clark, a descendent of the original mill site owners, had also explored purchasing the building with a goal of keeping the property in the family’s name and supporting the community’s efforts for its restoration.
It was a surprise for neighbors tracking the site to see the for-sale signs appear again this winter. The property is now listed asking for $1.2 million.
Whether or not Mr. Clark pursues a second attempt at purchasing the site is uncertain. For now, the nonprofit’s effort to transform the building into an educational and research center may have ended.