Portland Doom Loop Deepens As Council Studies Vacancy Tax On Empty Storefronts

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Downtown is empty.

[00:00:02]>> We're really in a ghost town. Portland leaders tonight exploring a controversial new idea to tackle empty storefronts and housing with a potential fee on landlords who leave spaces vacant for too long.

[00:00:13]>> Joel Jones is digging deeper into what the city and now stakeholders are saying. Almost daily, he finds needles around the building and in their parking lot.

[00:00:23]Couple of weeks ago, someone was shot down the street. As you can see, like I have a sign on my building, stop using our water. I had to close off our electrical cuz they would charge their phones because they have cell phones.

[00:00:37]>> First, some context here. From 2019 to 2024, one analysis found that taxes, local taxes on Portland businesses went up by 82% in just that 5ear span.

[00:00:48]>> 99% said they aren't intentionally keeping spaces open. Nearly nine in 10 said a vacancy tax would not reduce vacancies. I spoke with Vanessa Sturgeon, the president of TMT Development and a property owner downtown about the idea. She says the reason so many buildings are empty is because of how local and state governments treat business.

[00:01:11]>> Leaders in Portland, Oregon warned that a vacancy fee sends the wrong message as Portland reviews study on fees. So, in typical Democrat fashion, instead of pulling the trigger on anything or actually making a decision on anything, they spend a bunch of money to create a study and then they study the study. And in this case, is is it if we tax vacant commercial buildings in Portland, maybe they'll get them leased out because they think there's a bunch of commercial owners in the city just sitting around.

[00:01:51]Ah, hey man, let's just keep our buildings vacant. Why not? Meanwhile, they're paying for taxes. They're paying for repair. They're paying for security.

[00:02:00]They're paying for mortgages. They're bleeding out money. This isn't a matter of encouraging them to lease out their buildings through taxation.

[00:02:11]This is this is why Portland is so bass backwards right now because of leadership like this where there's actually a study on the table of whether or not they should tax vacant commercial buildings that are vacant because of city council's own policies. Leaders are reviewing a report on what implementing a so-called vacancy fee could look like in Portland as property owners cite the effort as a waste of time and money and one more proposal sending the wrong message about the city. Are these people just stupid or are they legitally challenged? We used to call them but we don't say that anymore because it's it's offensive to a lot of people. Are these people mentally challenged? Do they ride the short yellow school bus to the city council meetings? I don't know. Because it would take a to think that taxing commercial property owners that can't get their properties leased out, and what's the reason they can't get their properties leased out?

[00:03:22]Massive taxes. They have to they have to put that through to the, you know, potential tenants. You've got terrible street conditions. You got graffiti everywhere. You got whacked out nut jobs roaming the streets. You've got an anti- business sentiment throughout the city.

[00:03:42]You've got, you know, an anti- between the taxes and the anti- business sentiment. I mean, nobody wants to leave space in Portland. Portland, Oregon is one of the least desirable places to invest in real estate in the United States behind I think Hartford, Connecticut.

[00:04:05]So, it's not a matter of these b these business owners just sitting around doing nothing. They just love to see graffiti covering up and a bunch of cracked out, whacked out, nut job homeless people in front of their businesses. They don't want to see that.

[00:04:20]They want to see tenants in there. They want to see things going because that's what makes the system go. And Portland is so stupid that their leadership is actually studying what would what would happen if we tax these business spaces. It's it's mentally challenged is what it is. It's a complete lack of understanding about how business works, about how commercial real estate works, about how life works. But, you know, keep it weird. keep Portland weird. Said, "Of course they did." Why would they do that? I mean, are is this on purpose to tank Portland? Is this one more step to purposely tank Portland? I mean, this kind of thing's going on in Seattle. You know, they hired a socialist mayor who's literally come out and protested against Starbucks and then Starbucks decides to crank up an office in Nashville. $100 million investment, 2,000 jobs to Nashville, not in Seattle. Actions have consequences.

[00:05:25]Not that hard to figure out. And if you start taxing vacant buildings in Portland, that's just one more nail in the coffin by people that are mentally challenged because they think communism and is is an answer. They think socialism is an answer to something even though it's never worked. Hey, let's give it a run in Portland and just see what happens, right? I mean, this is such a basic basic concept. City councilors approved a study last June to research what implementing a long-term vacancy fee could look like. The request proposed by comrade counselor Samir Canal requested looking at charging a fee on commercial residential property owners if their unit sat vacant longer than six months.

[00:06:12]So, Samir Comrade Samir, why do you think their units are sitting longer than six months? In your geniusness, why do you think this is happening?

[00:06:27]Tell you what, I want you to go by yourself, middle of the night, 2 3:00 in the morning, and just take a 3 or four mile walk around downtown Portland by yourself. Don't take your cell phone.

[00:06:42]See how that goes, right? See how that goes. You tell me what you see, comrade Samir.

[00:06:51]Yeah, I think that would change your outlook entirely. Counselors unanimously approved the study, but a handful said their vote was in favor of information about the fee. What's the difference?

[00:07:03]What's the matter? If you're studying a fee or implementing a fee, you're basically on the wrong track. you need to be saying, "How can we make Portland more attractive to business? What taxes can we reduce?" Because we haven't even talked about the tax imple uh implications. So, when your downtown core normally kicks off, you know, millions and millions of dollars of tax revenue and now it doesn't, what do you make up with that tax revenue? You got to tax the people with their homes because that's what you got left. All those jobs that are gone, all that industry that's gone. I think this is partly, you know, on purpose to tank Portland.

[00:07:46]This is, if I were to come up with a plan to tank a city, this would be something that I would do because this literally sends a terrible message out to the general community. Don't invest in Portland. Don't do a don't do a a business here because if you get stuck and you got a vacant building, they're going to tax you. They're just going to absolutely kick you in the head when you're down, right? They're going to kick you in the head when you're down. That's what city councilors are doing. That is what they are studying to do. So, I think you know some of these it says but a handful said their vote was in favor. They wanted to just study the fee, not the actual implications of what would happen.

[00:08:32]Again, what's the difference? It makes no difference. It's it's the same thing.

[00:08:36]It's a terrible idea put forth by terrible people who have no idea how to run a business. And it's clear because what did we say the uh commercial vacancy factor is in Portland? Like 37% over one out of every three units is is vacant.

[00:08:54]H Okay. and you're going to put a tax on it. Okay. In what world does that make any sense at all? Did any of you on the on the Portland City Council go to college? Did Did you take econ?

[00:09:09]Did Did you Did you take accounting?

[00:09:14]It doesn't seem like you did. It just seems like you're really dense or you're a commie. So, either one is not great, right? And those are the decisions you're making which are just upside down and backwards. I just want to clarify that this would not do any fee creation on any side of it. It would simply get us models back. Why? You're not doing anything. What do you want models back for? Just want to look at it. Ah, hey, shiny object. No, you want to put a fee in for if you got it vacant. I would welcome a conversation after we received some information back from the administrator. See, this is the nonsense that happens. just a bunch of studies and you know crap going back and forth that you don't have money for, right?

[00:09:56]Because you got a budget deficit. You are taking money out of police. You are taking money out of police budget.

[00:10:03]You're defunding the police. You are defunding the fire department because you've got a massive budget deficit.

[00:10:12]Right? Public safety is going to suffer because you don't have enough money.

[00:10:16]Portland does not have enough money.

[00:10:18]You're going to have to make be tough decisions. And so you're coming up with fees. You're looking around going, "God, we could get we could charge them for that one. That one over there, that looks pretty bad. It's been more than six months.

[00:10:32]Let's charge a fee." This isn't that hard to figure out, is it? It's something that we're ready to do. I hope not. But you know what?

[00:10:42]You know what? F it. Start finding them.

[00:10:46]Start finding me. We'll see how that goes.

[00:10:50]See how the greater business community looks in at Portland, finding commercial owners that can't get a tenant in there to save their lives because of policies that you, the city council of Portland, have implemented.

[00:11:08]Public safety issues that you, the city of Portland counselors, have not supported. defund the police, all that crap going on with your ICE facility there. You know, ICE is just taking out criminal illegals, right?

[00:11:23]They're deporting criminals from the United States that shouldn't be here.

[00:11:26]And yet you allow these massive massive protests that are that are violent, that are wildly violent. I've been there. I've covered it. It's it's nuts. Who would want to run a business there? Right? And then you you do have the factor of okay, you're getting a bunch of visitors through. Visitors don't have to pay taxes on a business. Visitors are aren't there with exposure of millions of dollars of inventory or whatever it is in their business to criminals to crackheads to whacked out fetty addicts breaking into their businesses night after night after night. Portland's experiencing that. Seattle's experiencing that because there's not enough police officers to provide basic public safety. You got to be getting accosted in Portland to have the police come, right? Not just do we do something or do we not. Why are we even talking about it? You're going the wrong direction. This is terrible. This is so horrible. This is a terrible idea. This is the worst idea. This This is a communist idea. Are you a commie? Are you guys commies? Are you dirty, dirty, dirty commies? It's a legit question because this is what a dirty commie would do to a business. Oh, it's tax them. They can't get their place rented out. The report's completion comes as Portland State's Center for Real Estate released a recent survey on the fee.

[00:12:51]More than 400 developers, property owners, and other real estate professionals responded to that survey.

[00:12:56]The report said most respondents cited weak demand. Nobody wants to lease space there. short bus riders as the reason for vacancies. Nearly all of them, 99% said they aren't intentionally keeping spaces open.

[00:13:12]Why would they?

[00:13:14]Why would they do that? What would the strategy be there? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We want to keep it open. So, it's it's a basic lack of understanding of how econ 101 works. That's what we're talking about, right? You're talking about short bus riders who never took any college classes. Or if you did, you certainly didn't understand them because you're implementing policy that from the optics is just terrible, awful. About half said a vacancy fee would not change their leasing strategy.

[00:13:45]Others would. You know what their leasing strategy would be? Sell the building at a massive discount. Get out of Portland.

[00:13:54]However, more than six and 10 said it would change their investment and development strategy. 100% 100% out of here, boys and girls. Portland, you suck. Your study sucks. Your ideas suck.

[00:14:08]And that's how you end up with a 37% vacancy factor in downtown Portland because you got a bunch of socialists looking around going, "What do we do?

[00:14:17]What do we do? Oh, we can't figure it out. These are the businesses who have property that's sitting vacant. Let's read that again just because I know I know you know the people who need to hear it are, you know, they're challenged. They are mentally challenged. Nearly nine and 10 said a vacancy tax would not be effective in reducing vacancy. Oh my gosh. No way.

[00:14:46]Can you believe that? Oh, shocker.

[00:14:49]That's such a shocker. We're already facing substantial headwinds. 37% vacancy factor. Got fetty addicts.

[00:14:57]You've handed out tents. You got homeless encampments everywhere.

[00:15:04]Remember that? That was a big story. You decriminalized drugs and then you recriminalized them. Hard drugs. Oh yeah. Go ahead. Let them do heroin. Go ahead. Let them do meth. Let them do cocaine by the piles. Just line it up with a shovel. Right. Line it up with a shovel. Gigantic, gigantic hose. Just snort that cocaine on the streets of Portland.

[00:15:31]Facing substantial headwinds. And this is one more proposal that tells the rest of the United States that we're not serious about business and about the ecosystem in this community from across the board. that we don't welcome all types of people here.

[00:15:46]You know, it's it's not even about the people. It's it's about straight up business. Cut it. Get the people out of there.

[00:15:55]Does running a business in Portland, Oregon make sense? No. No. No. No. No.

[00:16:02]No. And no. No. No. No. No.

[00:16:06]That's my checklist. That's my imaginary checklist that you just saw there.

[00:16:11]Yeah. short bus. Yellow short bus. You know who loves buses? Kamala Harris loves a loves a bus. And I I'm sure she loves short buses as well because I mean if you love big school buses, you love the short short yellow bus, right?

[00:16:27]Sturgeon said the fee has been tried and failed in other cities. I mean, it's already been done just like socialism.

[00:16:32]But hey, let's run it in Seattle as well. Instead, it was a waste of time and money to study the fee. 100% agreed.

[00:16:39]This is stupid. I mean, the fact that I am having this podcast just tells you everything you need to know about leadership in Portland, Oregon right now. Short bus people. She said, "The crux of the issue is the local and state government's approach to business." Huh.

[00:16:57]Wow.

[00:16:59]Is that it? Yeah. I mean, literally, it it it's just not that hard to figure out, right? How about How about the rioting we had in the fentanyl Floyd era?

[00:17:13]Was good for business in downtown. How about the 7-Eleven that I always talk about? I went with my son Brennan and we had to step over the homeless dude who'd crapped his pants over the threshold of walking into 7-Eleven. Yeah, I I need to get a little caffeine before my drive back to Seattle, Washington.

[00:17:31]And I remember looking back at Brandon and um he's kind of looking at me like, "Do I just step over this dude?" And yep, let's go. Going to 7-Eleven. Dad's got to get his whatever caffeine I was getting that day. Probably a diet coke.

[00:17:50]Probably something not great. I don't drink coffee.

[00:17:54]We're getting a snack to go home. But I remember that the guy had crapped his pants. He's right there. And I remember thinking, I mean, if I wasn't a diehard 7-Eleven fanatic, I wouldn't be going into that 7-Eleven. And the store clerk, this is just normal stuff. This is normal stuff in Portland. That 7-Eleven is now closed down.

[00:18:16]Now closed down. And they destroyed all the, you know, historical statues. Just tore them down because, you know, socialism. Great. Yeah. Perfect. All happened in the downtown core. That's one of the other things that, you know, businesses don't want to deal with that.

[00:18:33]They don't want to deal with having to board up their entire storefront, all their glass. The Apple store just got rocked in Portland. I mean, incident after incident after incident. Um, they were trying to light the federal building on fire.

[00:18:50]Businesses don't want to try and survive in that environment. And so, that's why they leave. and there's a lot of space open and now you're going to try and tax them. You're gonna just try and hit them while they're down, kick them in the head while they're down. Our tax structure, our issues with public safety and our reputation on the national level, which is about as bad as anywhere, has made it so most in institutional investors just have Portland crossed off their list.

[00:19:20]Let's read that part again. crossed off their list. Portland.

[00:19:29]Imagine having a a convention in Portland. Imagine telling people, "Hey, we're we're going to go to a business convention in Portland." And they're like, "Portland, Maine?" No, Oregon.

[00:19:39]Really? We're going to Portland? Hey, Portland's a great place to visit. If you were a visitor, Portland's I don't care what you say. It's a beautiful city. It's a beautiful city.

[00:19:50]It's got so much natural beauty. I mean, you just go down there and you're like, "Wow, this is really cool." And then you start looking at the streets, you're like, "Wow, this is this is not all that great." And if you walk around like I did last summer, seeing what's happening on street level, you're like, if you go to Pete's on fourth, whatever that is, I mean, that's that is a crack mini market. That is a crack mini market if I've ever seen it. Yeah. people doing the fetty fold at the front, you know, the checkout. The um employee there is on something. I don't know. Couldn't wait to get out of there fast enough, but glad I did the, you know, trip. Glad I was walking around at night cuz I get to talk about it now. So adding a a vacancy tax, Portland Central Business District is one of the most challenged offices in the country today with vacancy levels ranking among the highest across major US cities. Policies that add additional financial burden to already struggling properties such as a vacancy tax risk further discouraging investment and slowing recovery.

[00:20:55]The priority should be creating conditions that support long-term stability, including addressing public safety concerns, fostering a more competitive tax environment in Multma County, supporting a broader return to office, including public sector presence.

[00:21:10]Nobody wants to be there. that brings consistent daily activity back downtown.

[00:21:15]Now, Portland is not alone. Portland, Portland is one of the worst. All downtown cores have had a difficult time because businesses realized during the pandemic, hey, we don't need all this office space. But when you've got a particularly tough street conditions because you have people that have really misguided compassion for whacked out homeless drug addicts and that think that housing first is going to work and it continually doesn't and you end up with a 37% vacancy factor and then you do stupid nonsense like throwing out a vacancy tax because you know what? Any business that right now might have been thinking about going to Portland, Oregon is saying, well, and all those factors we've already talked about 10 ways from Sunday, right?

[00:22:07]And then they're going to throw on top, oh, and hey, by the way, if you buy a building there and it's vacant for more than 6 months, we're going to tax you heavy because you know that's on you.

[00:22:16]And you're like, what? Doing what? How in the world? Could you imagine a vacancy tax in in Oklahoma City?

[00:22:24]Oklahoma. Yeah. You know, you hate to say it, but the Bubbas down there would say, "Uh, what? Uh, nope. That's not how we do it here." You know what I mean? It wouldn't even be They would laugh. They would laugh hysterically. They would say, "You must be from the West Coast because it's not a thing." because it's it's intellectually stunted to think that a vacancy tax is going to make your downtown corridor better by encouraging the landlords to lease out their spaces.

[00:22:57]They're already trying. They got nothing because there's no businesses that want to go in there. It's getting worse. Just like Seattle's vacancy factor is getting worse.

[00:23:06]You got a millionaire tax. Lots of reasons not to move your business to Washington state. Lots of reasons not to move your business to Oregon, set up in Portland, set up in Seattle. Lots of reasons to move to Texas, to Florida, Nevada, Arizona, the Carolas, Idaho, anywhere the West Coast, big West Coast, best coast, right? All right, that's it for me. But, you know, Portland, I think you should keep going down this road. I think you should implement the vacancy tax. I think you should make it a whopper. I mean, I think you should base 25% of your overall budget on the vacancy tax revenue. I think you should because I I want to study the study that comes after the study being done on the study for your study.

[00:24:01]Thanks so much for being here. I'd love to have you. Subscribe, do all that good stuff. I'll see you in the next one.

[00:24:05]Thanks again for watching.