PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — It’s been nearly a month since Multnomah County finally sold the never-used Wapato Jail.
The new owner, Jordan Schnitzer, is one of Portland’s wealthiest citizens. He’s a billionaire philanthropist who owns real estate all over the West — making his latest acquisition stand out.
The Wapato Jail was built in 2004 for $58 million and never housed a single inmate. Multnomah County sold the 525-bed facility to developer Marty Kehoe for $5 million. Schnitzer financed the purchase and took ownership.
Now, Schnitzer hopes the facility can help deal with Portland’s homeless problem.
He told KOIN 6 News, “If your hearts are so hardened, and we can’t care about people in this community who have issues, then what does that say about us?”
“But, my view is what’s happening now is intolerable, and something’s got to happen,” Schnitzer said.
Multnomah County rejected Wapato as a homeless shelter, saying it’s far away from services and expensive to operate. However, Schnitzer is meeting with community, business and religious leaders to explore ways to overcome these obstacles.
“When you’re dealing with community issues like this — my view is you’ve got to dream first, then you’ve got to get practical,” he said. “This is a community problem. It’s not a government problem. It’s a neighbor-to-neighbor problem.”
As reported in Jeff Gianola’s series “The Unsheltered Truth,” Schnitzer is leasing Wapato to developer Homer Williams, whose $7 million offer to buy the jail was rejected by the county. Williams shares Schnitzer’s vision of using Wapato for the homeless.
When asked if he would have the final say in what Wapato becomes, Schnitzer said, “Well, I see myself more as a cheerleader because there are so many others who have so much better knowledge than I do.”
Even if Wapato doesn’t work out, Schnitzer said it’s important to try.
“You know, if we try this and let’s say we get something open, and let’s say it doesn’t work after a year or two — at least we won’t look back and say we didn’t try,” he said.
There are also zoning issues associated with turning Wapato into a homeless facility. Schnitzer and Williams believe those obstacles can be overcome as well.