The sale of the campus is part of a plan to build long-term financial stability for the university's new school. The university has raised $20 million so far but wants to raise $60 million, and the sale of the campus could take it close to that goal. OHSU is reportedly already talking to a broker about the disposition. The sale is expected to occur later this year.

The school occupies only a portion of the built space on the campus and any sale would include a leaseback arrangement that could go on for several years. The value of the buildings could range from $90 per sf for older, unoccupied single-story space to as much as $200 per sf for newer multistory buildings with rent-paying tenants. The value of any developable land would be in the range of $7 per sf, based on recent comparables. If the built space were to fetch $120 per sf on average, the sale price would be in the $32-million range.

Hillsboro City officials see the property becoming another master-planned mixed use community similar to Tanasbourne, an 850-acre mixed use project master planned by Standard Insurance and developed over the past 30 years. The property sits between Tanasbourne on the north and the region's Max light rail line on the south. Immediately to its west is Amberglen Business Center, the state's largest office park at 217 acres. Hillsboro city officials envision it being part of a 580-acre master planned area at the east end of the city.

OHSU is moving the school to the South Waterfront redevelopment area on the southwestern edge of Downtown Portland, where three condominium towers and OHSU's new Women's Health Center are currently under construction. With its main campus land locked atop Marquam Hill, which rises to the west of the South Waterfront area, this is where OHSU has decided to expand its operations. A tram--the cost of which has tripled to $45 million since it was first envisioned--will connect the two campuses.

The School of Science & Engineering will be relocated to part of a 20-acre South Waterfront site that was donated to the University by Schnitzer Investment Corp. The move will occur over the course of the next seven years as the site is developed. The school eventually will occupy 85,000 sf on the property, which is being called the Schnitzer Campus.