Created in 1986, the Airport Way Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District has attracted job-generating investment in the hundreds of millions, and is home to many of the city’s standout companies in the advanced manufacturing and athletic and outdoor clusters.

Airport Way TIF District Boundaries Map

TIF District Fast Facts

  • Created: May 1986
  • Total Acres: 971
  • Last date to issue long-term debt: May 2011
View large Airport Way TIF District Boundaries Map

Development Opportunities

Prosper Portland owns development rights to approximately 23 acres at Cascade Station, a 120-acre parcel of property located at the gateway to Portland International Airport (PDX), at the southwest corner of the intersection of I-205 and Airport Way.

The Cascade Station Property and Tenant Identification Plan shows the three available parcels under a Prosper Portland ground lease to the Port of Portland: Parcel  D (5.907 acres), Parcel E (7.797 acres) and Parcel G (9.268 acres). These Prosper Portland parcels are transit-oriented and development-ready, zoned General Employment 2 (EG2) and adjacent to Cascade Station dining, shopping and hotel amenities.  

Cascade Station is a vibrant, mixed-use project that features major retailers, office space, hotels and other services development. It offers 800,000 square feet of retail space, 1.2 million square feet of office space and 250 hotel rooms as a premier retail destination.  

All development at Cascade Station is subject to the Cascade Station/Portland International Center Plan District per city code.   

Formed in 1986, the Airport Way TIF District is unique in its proximity to major transportation infrastructure and its absence of a substantial housing element. As such, the District’s primary goal has been to facilitate development to create a major eastside employment center.

Originally, at 2,780 acres, the Airport Way TIF District was the city’s second largest tax increment finance district. The District’s boundary, from NE 82nd Avenue, adjacent to the Portland International Airport, to the Portland city limits at NE 185th and Marine Drive, remained unchanged from its inception until 2010 when the Portland City Council passed the Tenth Amendment to the Plan which removed 872 acres and reduced the District’s size to 1,841 acres, so as to create additional capacity to expand an existing or create a TIF district in the city. In 2015, Portland City Council passed a package of amendments which included the reduction of the Airport Way District acreage to 971.

Airport Way’s maximum indebtedness of $73 million has been reached and there is no capacity to issue additional debt.  Project activities now must all be funded with land sale proceeds: in other words, the money that Prosper Portland receives from the sale or lease of property that it had acquired over the years. Currently, Prosper Portland still has 23 acres of vacant land that it is marketing for new development.

The District Plan and the Development Plan identified several objectives:

Facilitate

To facilitate development in the district that generates significant new employment opportunities for new and existing businesses

Support

To support development of public infrastructure, transit, and to protect the district’s natural resources

Encourage

To encourage employers to provide quality job opportunities to residents of economically disadvantaged communities

Utilize

To utilize the land near Portland International Airport for a major mixed-use development, consisting of retail, office and hotels, capitalizing on the MAX Light Rail line.

To accomplish these goals and objectives, Prosper Portland has provided financial incentives, direct infrastructure investment, development and economic development assistance.

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