Category Archives: CU Sale

By Mac Larsen | CNews Contributing Writer

The University of Oregon’s Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health will welcome its first group of students to the former Concordia University campus in the summer of 2023. UO representatives spoke at the Concordia Neighborhood Association’s General Meeting June 1 about the status of the university’s purchase and development of the former Concordia University campus, 2811 NE Holman St.

UO Portland Vice Provost Jane Gordon, Assistant Vice President for Community Relations Matt Roberts, and Ballmer Institute Acting Executive Director Randy Kamphaus spoke about the Institute’s goals and reach and answered questions from the CNA Board.

The Concordia property remains in escrow, and the sale is scheduled to go through in July. The new campus will open to students for hybrid, or in-person as well as online, learning in the summer and fall of 2023. The Institute will welcome a prospective class of around 200 students to help meet the rising need for mental healthcare professionals for children and adolescents with behavioral disorders.

The university’s board of trustees approved the purchase agreement March 14. UO officials have said that an ongoing legal dispute between the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, the property’s owner, and HotChalk, a Concordia University education contractor, will have no effect on the pending sale of the campus. HotChalk is suing the LCEF for breach of contract, stating their argument hinges on the “significant value” of the Concordia campus and “LCEF’s continuing pattern of diverting assets to elude bona fide creditors like HotChalk,” according to reporting from the Portland Business Journal.

As for the Institute, officials said its programs will help the nation address a number of employment as well as health care concerns. “The Ballmer Institute is an attempt to help close the workforce gap between adolescents and their behavioral health needs and their access to services,” Kamphaus said.

UO views The Ballmer Institute as an investment in a healthcare sector in desperate need of support and resources, with less than 400,000 children’s mental health professionals working in the United States right now. According to the CDC, almost 20% of children and adolescents under 18 “have a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder.” However, only 20% of children facing these challenges ever receive attention from a trained mental health professional, or diagnosis or treatment. The Institute hopes to lead the nation in educating future doctors, counselors, therapists, and nurses in the field of children’s behavioral health.

“We’ve had school districts express interest in hiring as many of our grads as we can produce,” Kamphaus said, noting he and other institute leaders meet with Portland Public Schools weekly, to plan how the school district can provide opportunities for student healthcare professionals. Roberts said that further community outreach with the Concordia neighborhood will be coordinated by UO and the university’s architects.

“We’ve heard the surrounding communities very much miss having students around,” Kamphaus said. “We couldn’t have a better welcome mat for the Ballmer Institute and for any other UO programs at the downtown campus who may want to move out to that campus as well next year in the coming years.”

Mac Larsen is a graduate student at the University of Oregon, pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. He grew up in Concordia neighborhood and can be found frequently on Alberta Street, complaining about all the construction.

Concordians greeted with delight – and some relief – the March 1 announcement by the University of Oregon (UO) that it plans to purchase the Concordia University (CU) campus.

It ended the wait of two years and 18 days for neighbors to learn the fate of the 115-year-old, 13-acre campus. Some feared it might be what neighbor Kristen Hagstrom described as, “just parceled out and sold to the highest bidder.

“This seems like best case scenario for the neighborhood,” she added. “It seems like they really want to be here in the neighborhood.”

Sarah Pearson and husband Trae bought KISS Coffee on nearby Ainsworth Street only a few months before the February 2020 announcement that Concordia University would close. The CU campus had its own dining facilities and didn’t bring a lot of business to KISS. But she looks forward, with UO’s presence, to a renewed energy of more people coming and going.

“I think it’s exciting. I think Concordia is such a beautiful campus. To see it empty was really sad.”

For Joann Scheck, who lives a stone’s throw from the campus, UO’s plans to create the Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavior Health brings the campus full circle. When she entered Concordia College as a freshman in 1956, it was to become a teacher to help fill the enormous need schools were experiencing with the Baby Boom generation.

“It’s going back to its roots, instead of going off in some other direction,” she said of the dormant campus. Just as there was a mid-century need for teachers, according to Joann, now schools have a tremendous need for more behavior health professionals.

“It seemed like Concordia always had a mission, and here we have this mission now that U of O is going to develop something that’s so needed. It just feels it’s the right time. We need to address the mental health needs of our children.”

Kristen worked for Concordia University for two years as an academic counselor in the College of Education, housed in Faubion School. She was one of many Concordians laid off in 2020. When more programming moves from UO’s Old Town facility, she expects new employment opportunities may open.

The mother of two, she’s also glad to hear that neighborhood use of the campus is on the minds of UO leaders. Campus grounds and facilities traditionally hosted many events and opportunities for youth.

“We were always checking out books from the children’s library,” Kristen added. “It was such a fun place to go and read on a rainy day.”

Editor’s note: For a recap of UO’s March 1 announcement about purchasing the campus and its commitment to the neighborhood, visit ConcordiaPDX.org/current-topics/cusale.

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

The owner of the Concordia University campus wants to sell it to “like minded” owners for “the highest and best use.”

Those terms peppered a Sept. 2 video conversation between Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) representatives and two Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) officials.

LCEF took ownership of the property in the June foreclosure after Concordia University had defaulted on nearly $38 million in loans. Since the college closed in April 2020, neighbors have asked what will become of the property. Answers to several questions posed by CNA were answered by Bart Day, LCEF president and CEO, and Rick Lauer, LCEF Real Estate Solutions senior vice president.

Can a buyer make a totally different use of the property? “The highest and best use is the easiest transition,” pointed out the LCEF president.

The property is zoned campus/institutional. “When new owners want to change the zoning, there’s usually a lot of pressure from the surrounding areas, and we’ve seen that take years in some cases,” Rick explained. “We’re not interested in pushing this out for years.”

The LCEF leaders also said they want to sell the campus as one unit. That includes not only the property and buildings, but also the fixtures, furniture and all other contents in the buildings. They pointed to that strategy in Boise when “like minded” University of Idaho College of Law leaders purchased the Concordia University Law School campus.

What Bart again called “like-minded people” have expressed interest in purchasing the Portland property, although he declined to name them or the price being discussed.

“We’re not looking to windfall some huge cash off of this sale,” he said. The goal is to cover the debt.

Another Concordia University creditor, Hotchalk, has attempted to delay the sale until its lawsuit is settled for the $302 million it claims Concordia University owes for an online education system. Hotchalk filed a similar suit to delay the property sale in Boise, but the Idaho court dismissed it.

Judgment on the Hotchalk suit for the Portland property from the Multnomah County Circuit Court didn’t arrive before press time. Visit ConcordiaPDX.org/CUSale for the judge’s order.

Meantime LCEF has a full-time maintenance person on the Portland property. “We are trying to keep a presence of people working on that campus to show that we’re actively engaged in it,” Rick said.

The LCEF representatives said they cannot, however, allow local groups to use the property. For insurance reasons, they continue to decline requests from organizations that used the grounds and facilities previous to when the university closed.

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

Your Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors asked what you’d like to see move into the 24-acre property vacated by Concordia University. “Knowing the preferences of the majority of neighborhood participants, if only informally, will help CNA lobby the city government and whomever the new owner becomes,” reported board chair Peter Keller.

A foreclosure auction for the property was announced for June 29. Watch Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX beginning late that afternoon – and the August CNews – for the identity of the property buyer, if that information is disclosed at the auction.

The May/June poll attracted 350 responses, with more than 90 percent coming from people who live in Concordia neighborhood.

At 46.3%, the majority of respondents want to see a school on the property. Another 20% call for a community center. Also 12.6% selected “other” in the poll and offered written opinions on housing, multi-use and additional ideas for the property. See below for some of those comments.

Housing: pro & con

• Affordable or low-income housing
• Housing with mental health services and job resources
• Anything besides transitional homeless housing
• Noooooo more housing, nor addiction treatment center near Faubion

Multi-use

• Multi-generational community center, something community-based and accessible for low-income residents to enjoy.
• Mixed-use center for housing and services associated with the houselessness
• Mixed residential & commercial
• Community center/agile learning facility/library/BIPOC-owned shops/food pod – like Alder Commons but bigger
• PreK-12 public school and community center
• Diverse solutions for diverse facility: athletic facilities to Portland Parks & Recreation, library to Multnomah County Library, classrooms to Portland Community College, housing to social/transitional programs
• Education and community space that can make changes with changing demographics to be used more economically and usefully, and serve a wider variety of citizen and community needs
• School or medical center and retirement center: library becomes community center if not used by previously named three, sports-related facilities rented or contracted out
• City or county ownership school/community center/housing for the public benefit

Miscellaneous

• Built as a learning center, many paid a premium for their nearby home because it was a learning center, zoned to be a learning center – remain a learning center supporting the arts, medical, university with public/neighborhood outreach
• Sports complex
• Nike Campus East
• Concert venue/entertainment/theater/hotel
• Reclaim land and resources by and for BIPOC communities displaced by gentrification in partnership with groups like the Living Cully partners and Rockwood Rising project

By Nancy Varekamp | CNews Editor

Trustee Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation initiated foreclosure proceedings against Concordia University Jan. 27 for defaulted loans. It came 13 days short of a year after the school announced it would close its doors.

News of the foreclosure spread quickly after certified copies of an 11-page Trustee’s Notice of Sale were posted on the campus by the trustee.

According to the notice, if CU does not repay the loans upon which it has defaulted, a sale of the properties and facilities is scheduled for 1 p.m. June 29.

“In a foreclosure, if the borrower cures the defaults and pays the amounts due, the lender will cancel the foreclosure sale,” explained the trustee’s attorney Teresa Pearson.

Many of the questions CNews asked weren’t answered. Among those unanswered are: May someone pay the in excess of $37 million named in the Trustee’s Notice of Sale and preclude the June 29 sale? Will the four distinct areas named in the notice of sale be sold separately, or as one piece? Do those four areas comprise the entire campus, or only the majority of CU’s property?

However, there is an answer to one question many neighbors ask, and that’s to what uses a new owner is allowed to put the 24-acre campus.

Quite simply, that depends on what the new owner wants — and what the city allows.

Currently zoned Campus Institutional (CI1), colleges and medical centers – and a few other accessory uses – are allowed. That’s according to Eric Engstrom, principal planner for the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability.

He added, “A fundamental question, of course, is if the site is purchased by another educational institution who would use it in a similar way as Concordia, or if a new owner had an entirely different vision in mind.

“The current zoning does not allow general commercial uses or housing (other than student or employee housing associated with a campus institution),” he wrote in an email. Continuing as a CI1, any major additions of new facilities would trigger a transportation impact review, he added. And that would involve community input.

If a new owner wants to change or modify the zoning, there are two options. Both require opportunities for public input, and the city council makes the decision, the planner pointed out.

“In both cases, considerations would include traffic, infrastructure adequacy and consistency with the city’s overall planning goals,” he explained. “Some of those goals touch on things like community character and public involvement.”

Editor’s note: The story doesn’t stop here. There are already a few details known that don’t fit this CNews space. Visit ConcordiaPDX.org/OtherCUIssues. And more details are expected to be revealed in coming weeks and months, so stay tuned to CNews, ConcordiaPDX.org and Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX.

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

Colliers International approached Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) recently. That agency is assisting the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) to sell the Concordia University property.

Colliers provided an update on the sale.

“During our conversation, it was expressed that Colliers and the LCEF would like to maintain a good working relationship with the neighborhood,” reported Astrid Furstner, CNA chair. “To that end, Colliers will endeavor to share as much information regarding the sale that is possible barring any confidentiality issues.”

The ultimate goal is to sell the property to another college or university that may allow the continued unique benefits that are available to the Concordia neighborhood now, such as the library and certain other special partnerships that were in place.

“It is currently Colliers’ and LCEF’s wish to work with the Concordia neighborhood going forward,” Astrid explained.

“Colliers and LCEF have been informed, from our February 2020 general meeting, about a few of the top issues of concern regarding the property.”

Those are:

• Continued property maintenance
• Security/safety
• Disposition of the sale of the property
• Homeless/houseless situation
• Relationship with Faubion School

“Colliers reports that they are still working through the nuances regarding the maintenance and security staffing of the campus, and will endeavor to keep the Concordia neighbors apprised of the activities going forward to the degree that they are able to,” Astrid said.

“In the meantime, I invite you all to share your specific concerns by emailing me,” she added. “I will gather your concerns and provide them to Colliers as we work forward on this issue.”

Astrid’s email address is at Chair@ConcordiaPDX.org.

Keep your fingers crossed. The Concordia University community is planning a closing celebration for Sunday, June 28, from noon to 5 p.m. There’s just one caveat: Oregon’s “stay home, save lives” order must be lifted by then for the ceremony to occur.

Here’s the schedule:

• Noon-4 p.m.: Neighbors, students, and staff and faculty gather and tour; bring a picnic, chair or blanket, and enjoy lunch on the campus grounds.
• 4-5 p.m.: Ceremony features community, student and staff speakers, as well as official deconsecration of the campus buildings.

For more details and/or to RSVP, visit: EventBrite.com/e/concordia-university-closing-celebration-tickets-99392214790.

CNews asked readers to send their memories of Concordia University to share with the community at this time of grief about institution closing. Below are some of the submissions.

If you have any to share, post them on Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX.

Karen (Sasser) Wrye

Concordia University has been a part of my life for many years. My family moved to Portland in 1945. I grew up on 27th and walked past the campus on my way to Faubion to grade school.

We neighborhood kids also played on the campus. When it was time for college, I attended there to study to be a teacher.

After graduating, I lived out of state for eight years. In 1972, I moved back to Portland when my husband accepted a position to teach in the high school department at Concordia.

I have lived in the Concordia neighborhood since then. For 12 years, I was an adjunct instructor at Concordia University. Over the years I have witnessed the many changes and additions to the campus.

All my memories as neighbor, student and instructor are too many to list. A few of my favorites are singing in the Concordia College Choir, attending concerts and sporting events over the years, visiting the library and walking across campus on my treks through the neighborhood.

I live close enough to campus that, in recent years, I have enjoyed the music of the carillon.

I grieve the closing of Concordia University and wonder what will take its place as my neighbor.

Dick Wrye

The first five years I lived in the Concordia neighborhood of Portland, I taught in the high school department of Concordia College and High School. The high school then moved off the Concordia campus and became Lutheran High School.

At Concordia I taught music, primarily choir and band. Many of those students are still my friends. I am glad to have memories of the many years of teaching.

Georgina Sharadin Sievers

My parents, Don and Dolores Sharadin, built their house on 27th and Liberty in 1951 to send all their future children to Concordia High School — an all-boys high school, then a junior college, which later became a university.

They had five daughters, but fortunately the high school turned co-ed in 1968. Four of the five girls attended there, met their future husbands on the campus, and they were married in the chapel in Luther Hall.

After the girls left home, the Sharadins – who have seen tremendous changes to the campus – continued to support the growing university, and even rented bedrooms out to other students throughout the years.

Dolores received Concordia’s first Lux Christi Award, given to an outstanding educator for the Lutheran Church. Don couldn’t stay away from attending all the sporting events on campus. The Sharadins still maintain occupancy of the big yellow house. The landscape has changed immensely with the stadium, the library, the gym and campus apartments.

I taught swim classes as an adjunct professor, son-in-law Ken is the head of maintenance, granddaughter Karen is the campus nurse and great-granddaughter Atley is a freshman on the campus.

Sadly to say, we are all heartbroken. But we are thankful for the nearly 70 years our family has been a part of this Concordia community.

By Erik Van Hagen | LUTC member

Here is a rundown of just some of the topics discussed by the Concordia Neighborhood Association Land Use and Transportation Committee (LUTC) in January and February.

Dekum Court

Home Forward (formerly Housing Authority of Portland) representatives offered a presentation on its plans to rebuild and increase the supply of affordable housing in our neighborhood. The redevelopment of Dekum Court, 2400 block of Morgan Street, will replace 40 apartments and add 160 more.

The construction will be phased to avoid displacing families currently living there. With the increase of rent and home prices significantly outstripping incomes, projects like this one will improve housing options and affordability in Concordia. Funding for this project comes from the 2018 voter-approved Metro affordable housing bond.

Columbia/Lombard Corridor

A representative from Portland Bureau of Transportation discussed proposed changes to improve safety on Columbia and Lombard. Our conversation focused on whether the project, as designed, goes far enough to protect vulnerable road users. The project is currently not funded, so there is no timeline for delivery.

For details, see Garlynn Windsong’s report above.

Concordia University Closure

Of course the biggest news was the shocking demise of Concordia University – for which our neighborhood was named – whose officials announced abruptly it is closing at the end of the academic year. We heard about some of the factors that appear to have contributed to the decision, and assistance that is being provided to help students who have been placed in the difficult position of having their university close.

It is too soon to know what may become of the roughly 24-acre campus, which is zoned CI1, a multi-use zone for larger institutional campuses in residential neighborhoods. Obviously the entire neighborhood will be watching with interest.

The LUTC meets every third Wednesday of the month in the Kennedy School community room at 7 p.m. The next meeting is April 15. All are welcome.

By Astrid Furstner, CNA Chair

Resilience is defined as having the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity or the like. In Concordia, the place we call home, resilience is being able to recover from the news that left us reeling – the closure of Concordia University.

At our March general meeting, we had asked Julie Dodge, doctor of ministry, to speak to us about resilience – something that she deals with and helps others to deal with on a daily basis. The university associate professor was invited as a speaker for our March event prior to the university’s announcement about closing.

The strength and courage she showed in still coming to our meeting was amazing. As a matter of fact, there were several other staff/faculty members in attendance that night – not as representatives of the school, but as members of the community, neighbors and as people whose lives have also been changed.

The school is closing. The students will no longer be on campus. The faculty and staff are losing their jobs. This is what we have to contend with as a community.

There will soon be a void. There is uncertainty. How will we, as a community, come together and fill that void?

Let us begin with our children. Karmin Williams, Ed.D., Faubion School principal, attended. She alleviated some fears by reporting the Faubion building is owned by Portland Public Schools (PPS) – not the university.

Faubion is not closing. She also said the university was providing 40% of funding along with volunteers and teaching students, in addition to a full-time employee who coordinated community activities. So Faubion will face a shortfall, both in finances and assistance.

What can we, as a community, do to help? Volunteer. Any neighbor who wishes to volunteer must go through a PPS background check and application process. Learn more at PPS.net. How much time do you have?

The university provided our community with the use of its library. That’s closing. But, did you know that we have six other public libraries that we can also use – for free?

They are: Kenton Library on north Denver Avenue, North Portland Library on north Killingsworth Street, St. Johns Library on north Charleston Avenue, Albina Library on northeast 15th Avenue and the Hollywood Library on northeast Tillamook Street.

We also have several free little libraries in our community. Leave a book – take a book.

The closing of the university does have an impact on our community, but it does not have to destroy us. Change is here, how do we face it?

Personally, I say we face it together.

Why not work together to continue to make Concordia our home – a place where our children can live out their lives and create memories? A place where we care for our neighbors. A place where we thrive as a community.

Astrid Furstner is a mother, a wife, an immigrant, a local artist and an artisan. She lives with her luthier husband, Brent, and her artist-in-the-making daughter, Luciana. Together, they call Concordia their home.