PORTLAND, Ore. — The 128-year-old Union Station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is for sale.
Well, kind of — the city is looking to find a buyer for Union Station but says it's not in a hurry, and a potential buyer needs to have a transportation focus.
"There's long been a recognition that the economic development agency is not the best entity to own a rail facility, especially one that's absolutely critical to this particular part of the United States," Shawn Uhlman said, a spokesperson for Prosper Portland. "It has long been envisioned that some transportation focused entity, an organization with a transportation mission would own the facility long term."
Portland acquired the property that houses Union Station in 1987 as part of a 31-acre purchase of land in what became known as the Pearl District. For the last decade, Uhlman said the city has been in talks to find a buyer, but that conversations about finding a buyer have ramped up in recent years.
In February 2024, Prosper Portland wrote to both federal and state partners that it was still looking for a new buyer.
The city was recently in negotiations with Amtrak, the main tenant of Union Station with more than 40,000 square-feet of space, but an Amtrak spokesperson told KGW in an e-mail: "Amtrak can confirm it has stepped back from these discussions."
When asked why, the Amtrak spokesperson didn't respond.
Uhlman told KGW the potential sale to Amtrak fell through because of "Amtrak's federal funding, staff capacity, uncertainty about preservation costs and other organization priorities."
While Uhlman didn't have a sales price to give, saying they haven't appraised the property yet, he said it largely hinged on the huge repair and upgrade bill Union Station faces.
"The approximate cost that we're hearing so far about $250 million in renovations and upgrades to the facilities that need to happen. Now, those are preliminary costs and I think as the work advances over the next few years, those costs will be refined and most likely those costs will increase," Uhlman said.
He pointed to the train tracks, platform and canopies outside the station that would eat up the largest chunk of that $250 million estimated bill. He also said seismic upgrades, electrical and plumbing needing a majority of the rest.
"It's quiet for a train station — and for the West Coast, a busy one. It's actually a quiet work space," Jeff Mandel, owner of ExIT Shoes said.
The top two floors of Union Station are rented out to various businesses, including Mandel's shoemaking shop on the second floor. Inside his small 440 square-foot, two-room office, he makes custom shoes for his clients. It's a space he's rented from the city since 2013.
Mandel said that when he first heard about the space through an advertisement on Craigslist, it was the rent he couldn't pass up. While he wouldn't say how much a month he pays per month, he did say it's under $1,000.
"It's fantastic. I love the fact that it's the oldest, largest train station west of the Mississippi," Mandel said. "I love the height of the ceilings and the light."
He fears that if a new buyer takes over ownership of the station, his rent would skyrocket.
"There's no possible way they can defray the cost of running this building with our rent. That's the other part of the reality."
If you ask Mandel about the 128-year-old historic building and its aging structure, he'll point you to the second-floor hallway outside his office, where you can see the building starting to show its age.
"If you look at the framing of this here," he said pointing to a window frame. "And the framing of the door, you can see the gap on the bottom."
Underneath the door Mandel pointed to was a sizeable gap of a couple inches that increased in size as it moved away from the frame.
"It really highlights the way the east wall of the building is essentially sort of shifting towards the river."
Uhlman said there's no urgency to sell the property, and the city has the funding in the budget to maintain and operate Union Station until it can find a buyer.