Find out why this $750,000 grant will be coming from the Lents Town Center Tax Increment Finance District …
Last October, three months before the two-alarm blaze charred much of the Portland Mercado building, its plaza was filled with excitement for their 2023 “Taste of Latin America” fiesta, shown here.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A few of the food carts parked at Portland Mercado — along S. E. Foster Road at 72nd Avenue, in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood — have reopened. However, its commercial kitchen and indoor spaces remain shuttered after a two-alarm electrical fire ripped through the building on January 3rd.
> To read our coverage of that fire, CLICK HERE.
On October 10th, the day after Prosper Portland authorized a $750,000 grant for its rebuilding, the Portland Mercado plaza is quiet.
On October 9, Prosper Portland – renamed from the “Portland Development Commission”, in 2017 – authorized a “Non-Programmatic Grant” to Hacienda Community Development Corporation, for the restoration and improvement of the Portland Mercado.
The $750,000 grant, issued from the “Lents Town Center Tax Increment Finance District” (Lents TIF), will help rebuild the charred building that’s on property owned by Prosper Portland, and leased to Portland Mercado LLC.
Behind the 10-foot high temporary walls, it appears that scaffolding is already being installed on the side of the Portland Mercado building.
Funded with Lents Town Center TIF money
Why does this development, located on the northern boundary of the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood, qualify for a grant from the Lents TIF?
It’s because it’s in the district! While most of the western boundary of the “Lents Town Center Tax Increment Finance District” cuts off along 79th and 80th Avenues, the maps show a one-block-wide sliver that juts northwesterly along S. E. Foster Road – all the way to Powell Boulevard.
The grant document breaks out the funding for the project:
Source | Amount | Percentage |
Insurance | $904,203 | 46% |
Prosper Portland Grant | $750,000 | 38% |
Fundraising | $303,910 | 16% |
Total Sources | $1,958,113 |
“Because of the damage [in the fire], there’s an opportunity to do some structural reinforcing to add an accessible balcony for customers of the Mercado to enjoy outdoor dining, as well as the additional awnings … to provide some shade in the summertime and some rain coverage in the winter,” wrote Prosper Portland Development Manager Bryan Moore in the grant document.
By this time next year, the “new and improved” Portland Mercado should be open to the public.
If permitting goes as scheduled, construction will begin before the end of the year; and the Mercado is expected to reopen in October, 2025.
© 2024 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™