The Portland School Board will vote Tuesday on a proposed $16 million building purchase for its Center for Black Student Excellence.
Portland Public School’s proposal is to acquire the One North development at 3506-3514 N. Vancouver Avenue and 25 N. Fremont, St, in the heart of the Albina neighborhood. The development is comprised of two buildings, both constructed in 2015, with about 72,000 square feet of space, according to a district staff memo. (An appraisal the district obtained in May valued the property at $15.2 million.)
Money for the project would come from the district’s 2020 bond, which allocated $60 million to the Center for Black Student Excellence, a space that “comprises both physical and programmatic components to advance student success and community connection,” according to a School Board resolution. The center has faced its fair share of delays ever since that bond’s approval. In May, a 38-member coalition of nonprofit and community organizations demanded the district take steps to secure a building by Dec. 1…