Associated Press
PORTLAND — Oregon’s largest county is looking to unload a jail in mint condition — having never housed a suspect or convict.
The Wapato Jail was built a decade ago at a cost of $58 million, and Multnomah County is spending more than $300,000 a year for maintenance.
But assumptions about crime rates and other trends never panned out, and the county didn’t set aside money to open and staff the jail.
On May 2, the county started accepting expressions of interest in buying the facility. The deadline for submitting them is Wednesday. County officials won’t say what kind of response they’ve gotten so far.
The jail was designed for 525 inmates.
It has 168,420 square feet on 18 acres in a North Portland industrial zone that abuts a wetlands area.
The most recent property assessments estimate that a fair price for the property is $40 million.