PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Alder Street food carts being displaced by a new Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Portland will move to the North Park Blocks — if they can raise $300,000 quickly.
Friends of Green Loop, an initiative to create a 6-mile linear park throughout the city, is leading the effort to raise the money. Keith Jones, the co-director for Friends of the Green Loop, said they have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money for towing, electrical supplies and developing a long-term food cart pod solution.
Proponents of the plan hope to have them up and running by July 15 — about 3 weeks from now.
GoFundMe – PDX Food Carts
Green Loop Culinary Corridor
A total of 37 carts would be moved. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s office is working with the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, as well as the Portland Bureau of Transportation, KOIN 6 News reported Monday.
The new spot for the food carts is proposed to be NW Davis and W. Burnside on the north-south and SW Park and SW 8th Avenue on the east-west.
The carts have to clear out of the lot by June 30 to make way for construction to begin on a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The new hotel will have 251 rooms and 138 residential units in the 35-story tower. There are also plans for high-end office space and a food hall on the first floor.
“Our ultimate goal is to move the vendors to a new Culinary Corridor concept,” Jones said in a statement, “and we view this transition as a pilot project, building a case for placing more food carts within the Green Loop in the future.”