Developer offers $10 million for unused Portland jail

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A California developer has offered to pay $10 million for a Portland jail that never opened.

Pacific Development Partners submitted the offer to Multnomah County this week. The company has not told the county what it has in mind for the Wapato Jail, but it has experience developing commercial and retail properties.

A county spokeswoman tells The Oregonian/OregonLive (https://is.gd/D6YPzs ) that officials are evaluating the offer, but need to know more about the developer’s plans.

Voters in the 1990s approved a bond measure in to build the jail, but the county lacked the money for operating costs. And, as it turned out, the jail wasn’t necessary because a projected rise in the inmate population never happened.

The $58 million jail has been vacant since construction ended in 2003.