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An artist's rendering of a development project planned in Troutdale for a destination hotel, spa, convention center and bicyclist mecca on the banks of the Sandy River.

(Courtesy of Eastwind Development LLC)

A mostly hidden patch of Troutdale that holds remnants of a former sewage plant and thousands of buried sheep bodies will be transformed into a destination hotel, spa, convention center and bicyclist mecca on the banks of the Sandy River.

The plan took a big step forward this week when Troutdale officials voted to signal the city's intention of selling the 12-acre former wastewater facility to Eastwind Development LLC, a company associated with food sauce maker Junki Yoshida. The City Council and its urban renewal agency approved the resolution on Tuesday.

With the new agreement in hand, officials at Eastwind expect to combine the city land with eight acres owned by the company and start marketing it to a hotel operator to anchor the development near downtown. Part of the land could include one of east Multnomah County's top places to host conferences and events, as well as retail shops and a spa. Housing, once considered an element in the site's development, is no longer planned.

"We are prepared to move forward in good faith and write a very big check to the city" for the land deal, said Matthew Wand, a Troutdale attorney and former council member working for Eastwind.

Council member Rich Allen predicted the now unsightly location will become a popular destination.

"It's not only important to Troutdale," he said, "it's important to the region."

The development would highlight the Sandy River waterfront, including public access to the river, bicycle and walking trails and overlook areas. The developer expects to incorporate the site's old water tower, saving an iconic fixture in the city.

An aerial rendering of the proposed Troutdale development.

Several of the businesses expected to settle there are likely to cater to cyclists. The development is a natural hub for bicyclists riding the metro area's future 40-mile Loop or accessing popular routes in the Columbia River Gorge.

"This could be ground zero where people start, where they stay overnight ... where they spend their money," Wand said.

The city and Eastwind have yet to negotiate a sales price for the wastewater site, and the cleanup and preparation of the property will run into the millions of dollars even before any development occurs, Wand said.

The properties are part of a larger urban renewal area formed in 2006. The state-authorized program makes the "brownfield" area eligible for special financing to aid redevelopment, but this area has been largely fallow in the past eight years, in part due to the long downturn in the economy.

The site still has additional challenges to overcome before it can become a showcase for Troutdale, which is in the midst trying to remake itself into a bigger regional draw for outdoor enthusiasts and art and history lovers. Development also would increase the city's income through higher property taxes and additional lodging taxes.

Eastwind's first priority is to rid the property of all those sheep carcasses, which accumulated while a sheep "pullery" operated on the site from a period of roughly the 1920s until as recently as the 1960s, Wand said. His own grandfather worked for a short time at the company, where wool was salvaged from dead sheep that were unfit to sell as meat. The carcasses were buried on location. Wand put the number in the many thousands.

The company dug a test pit and found that after a half century or more underground, the animal remains have formed a gelatinous goo under a thick layer of dirt, Wand said.

The material isn't toxic, Wand said. But he added: "You don't want to build over jiggly stuff that might not support a parking lot or building foundation."

The company hopes to remove the remains this October, before the rainiest weather complicates the work but during the windy season, which they hope will make what's expected to be a smelly excavation more tolerable for surrounding residents and businesses.

The company is working with the state Department of Environmental Quality, and the unsavory waste likely will disposed of at a remote facility designed to handle it, Wand said.

After the sale, the company also would remove the old sewer plant, which the city replaced in 2001 with its wastewater facility north of Interstate 84. Today the old wastewater pond is covered with a matt of aquatic weeds. The sounds of croaking frogs and quacking ducks can be heard between passing trains.

Those frequent trains are part of an even bigger challenge for the site development than a big pit of rotting animals: The site is nearly landlocked.

Besides the river to its east, downtown Troutdale and busy railroad tracks flank the south side, the Columbia Gorge Premium Outlets mall is on the west and the elevated I-84 blocks access from the north.

The only current way into the property is on narrow roads that skirt around the mall, but the city and Eastwind are looking at the possibility of extending Southeast Kibling Street from downtown Troutdale and across an overpass beyond the railroad tracks before dropping into the site.

They also expect to build a pedestrian bridge across the tracks from downtown into the site as well as an underpass near the river that allow cyclists and walkers to safely pass the tracks.

Eastwind officials also will speak with officials from the giant Simon Property Group, which owns the outlet mall, about redeveloping their property to include access from the west side that could tie the developments together. The developer also hopes to find a new location for a railroad yard at the south end of the property.

-- Eric Apalategui