City approves Multnomah Building sale (again)

Kathy and Frank Deggendorfer will continue with their efforts to turn the former Multnomah Publishers building on Adams Avenue into an arts center after a 3-2 council vote on Thursday, July 21.

The couple purchased the property from the City of Sisters for $500,000 last month, but the transaction was thrown into doubt by a procedural error on the part of the city.

The city should have held a public hearing in October 2003 when the property was declared surplus. That hearing never happened.

After the city agreed to sell the property a city staffer discovered the error and a hearing was scheduled for July 21.

The late scheduling of a hearing reopened questions from two city councilors as to whether the city received sufficient value from the sale.

While councilors Sharlene Weed and Brad Boyd both indicated that they support the Deggendorfers’ plan, they cited a previous offer of $625,000 (the interested party rejected a higher counter-offer) and a $550,000 offer that came after the agreement with the Deggendorfers as indications that the city could have done better.