PORTLAND, Ore. — Off the corner of Northwest 17th and Thurman Street sits a vacant office building. Just outside are signs of Portland’s struggles with addiction and mental illness.
“It feels like we're just like not cared about, like we're just insects,” said Sky, who struggles with a fentanyl addiction and lives out of a tent down the street.
“There's been a huge uptick in mental health issues and crisis related to fentanyl,” said Vanessa Sturgeon of Sturgeon Development Partners, who bought the 67,000-square-foot building in 2018 for $6.8 million. She put another $18 million into renovating it to rent it out as office space, but she had no luck finding tenants. An old display of office renderings sits by the front doors.
“We delivered it to a market that didn't need more office space,” she said, so Sturgeon is turning it into something Portland does need. As Willamette Week first reported, the building will have a mental health crisis center paired with 80 transitional housing units.
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“Obviously, it's not what we expected from this market, but at the same time, our goal is to be the first project like this, and we're hoping other developers will follow suit,” Sturgeon said.
She's partnering with the California-based group Jackson House, which offers residential and mental health services.
“It's a unique opportunity to move somebody from the street into permanent supportive housing: the entire continuum under one roof,” said Jim Sechrist, the regional operations manager for Jackson House.
Sechrist is talking about helping people like Sky, the 29-year-old who camps across the street and calls their plans for the building a blessing.
“I feel like it would be good for the homeless people and the people in need of addiction services,” he said.
However, the project depends on financial support from local governments. Sturgeon is asking for $22M to complete the construction.
“We've been in planning for several months here, but we just started meeting with government officials over the last 90 days,” she said.
Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio's chief of staff Jillian Schoene tells KGW in a statement: “This is precisely the kind of idea that we’re looking for… Commissioner Rubio has directed me to start looking for funding sources. We’re really excited about it.”
Mayor Wheeler's office declined to comment and said they are waiting to learn more about the project.
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If Sturgeon gets what she needs regarding permitting and money, she hopes to finish it in about 15 months.
“It's an opportunity I think is rare, and I’d sure hate to see it slip by,” said Sechrist.