Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality approved and signed the Prospective Purchaser Agreement on May 19, 2026.
North Portland's long-polluted McCormick & Baxter site is on the brink of a dramatic makeover, with state regulators having reached a deal that could turn the Superfund property into a riverfront botanical showpiece.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has signed a Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) that clears the way for the nonprofit Portland Botanical Gardens to buy and manage most of the 59-acre parcel while keeping existing cleanup protections intact. The agreement creates a path for the project to create Portland's most expansive botanical garden along a stretch of the Willamette River that has largely been off-limits to the public for decades.
Under the agreement's terms, Portland Botanical Gardens would pay $1.195 million - roughly half of the site's most recent appraised value - and must show it has at least $3 million available to carry out its plans within one year, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. DEQ held a formal 60-day public comment period on the proposed deal that closed Jan. 30, 2026, and considered community and tribal feedback before approving the agreement.
The property, once home to a creosote wood-treating plant, was cleaned up under a 2005 remedy that removed tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil, installed a two-foot clean soil cap and an 18-acre groundwater barrier wall, and placed caps over contaminated river sediments to isolate remaining pollution, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Long-term monitoring and institutional controls are still in place to protect the Willamette River and nearby neighborhoods.
What the agreement requires
DEQ's Prospective Purchaser Agreement spells out what the nonprofit must do as it takes over the site. Portland Botanical Gardens will be required to create and maintain an approximately 10-acre public greenspace by 2031, including a segment of the Willamette River Greenway. It would also need to submit a Remedy Monitoring and Maintenance Plan within 90 days of acquiring the property, perform quarterly inspections, file annual reports, and maintain site security along with the engineered cap and stormwater systems.
The agreement also calls for a cash payment to DEQ at closing, with the agency authorized to put that money toward further remedial work or habitat improvements.
What's next
With the DEQ agreement now signed, Portland Botanical Gardens has up to one year to close on the property and meet the funding requirement. A separate Prospective Purchaser Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will also be required before the sale can be completed; that agreement is expected to be posted for a 30-day public comment period before it can be signed.
The nonprofit has released a conceptual master plan and says it intends to coordinate closely with tribes and frontline communities as it moves into design and permitting, according to Portland Botanical Gardens. Before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enters into any separate prospective purchaser agreement for the site, the agency typically posts the proposed agreement for public review and opens a 30-day comment period, a process it has followed in past PPA cases, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Why this matters to North Portland
Supporters say the garden could flip a long-neglected industrial stretch of riverfront into new recreational and educational space while also preserving and restoring habitat. Critics and some conservation voices, meanwhile, are pushing for close scrutiny of construction plans and clear community benefits. Local reporting and horticulture analysis have underscored the site's industrial history and the need for meaningful tribal and neighborhood engagement as redevelopment moves forward, according to Pacific Horticulture.
The signed DEQ agreement is a major milestone, but the full path to a transformed riverfront remains ahead. A future EPA prospective purchaser agreement, detailed design reviews, and the nonprofit's fundraising all have to line up before ownership changes hands and shovels hit the ground. Until then, the engineered caps, monitoring wells, and other long-term protections remain in place under state and federal oversight while agencies and the community sort out what comes next.
