Relo Team Update; 9/8 Comm Convo, 10/12 Town Hall next

Wondering what’s going on with our relocation explorations? Carry on…

Where we are 
At this point, due to many factors including a much reduced membership, we
have deferred the option of purchasing a space in the near term. So for now,
we’re focusing on renting or sharing spaces at least until we have stabilized and
begun to grow again.

What your Relo Team is working on:
We have narrowed our relocation options down to four for now:

1. Remain in place, negotiate a lease with the new owners of the Carnegie
Building. If there is a rent increase at the end of our lease (Jan. 31, 2020),
we are also considering letting some square footage go to reconfigure the
space appropriately for lower rent.

2. Rent/Lease a new commercial space somewhere in our “drala basin”
with the hope of improved specifications we don’t have now (i.e. ADA
accessibility, parking, better security, etc). We are talking with the Lloyd
Center leasing agent and viewed some suites there of which two offered
possibilities. We are waiting to hear from the owners’ answers to
questions that might make this option feasible. We have also reached out
to a rental broker who works with properties in southeast Portland.

3. Share space with an existing community, a church or other
religious/non-profit organization that owns a space and has surplus they
would be willing to let us occupy. We contacted a local Lutheran Church in
this regard, but they were not interested in additional tenants. Currently we
have a request in with Michael Ellick, director of Ecumenical Ministries of
Oregon, to help us identify a community that might be a willing partner.
We also contacted the Movement Center (ashram at NE 33 rd and Sandy),
but they are in contract to sell and can’t rent out at this time.

4. Go without a space for a period of time in order to save money toward
a down payment. We would rent spaces on a per-diem basis for practice,
classes, and meetings, and meet in members’ homes as much as
possible. This is the least desirable option and would be a last resort if
nothing else worked out.

Plan going forward:

Our goal is to have an informed decision from our community. Given that,
we/Relo plan to have identified specific options we will have assessed for Council
consideration and community viewing by the end of the summer.

Mark Your Calendars: Sunday, Sept 8: Community Conversation focused on
Relocation Team report, all welcome to attend this information-discussion
session describing what we’ve done and where we’re at.
Possible viewings of one or more spaces identified as workable if we decide
to move. We’d want to include both daytime and evening options for viewing and
would schedule those with a week or two of notice.

October 12 (tentative) Town Hall, 1-4 pm: Members Town Hall where we/Relo present what we have
learned and seek broad agreement on at least one acceptable option to refer to
council for a decision. If a decision is made to relocate, we would hope to have
completed that process and be in a new space by the expiration of our existing
lease on Jan 31, 2020.

To insure broad community input, the Relocation Team will also provide paper
and online surveys to get feedback on viewings and possible options for
members unable to attend. We would also be open to e-mail or other personal
communications from people with their thoughts.

Thank you to taking your time to read this. Feel free to let us know your thoughts
and questions.

Mark Douglass
[email protected]
Jay Stewart
[email protected]