In April, 2004, a small group of committed individuals set out to change the world. On seven acres of garden, field and forest, tucked into Tryon Creek State Park, they saw boundless possibility. And they planted the seed that would become Tryon Life Community Farm (TLC Farm), a sustainability education and demonstration center serving the Portland community. At the same time, on the same seven acres, Brownstone Homes, Inc. saw a 23-unit housing development. In fact, Brownstone Homes owned the rights to buy the land for $1.5 million dollars. Undeterred, the group of individuals that made up TLC Farm moved forward with their plans to open the land to the public as an education center and resource, trusting that the rightness of their vision would bring the necessary support.
Over less than two years, that effort grew into a city-wide grassroots movement embodying the determination to embody a future in which destructive development is not inevitable, and healing is a collective effort. With thousands of donors, hundreds of volunteers, dozens of partner organizations, and a helter-skelter race to the finish line, we all together saved this place! Following is an outline of the legal and financial structure that has resulted.
TLC Farm Land Acquisition & Financing Overview
- Land Trust:
- Conservation Easement:
- Ground Lease:
- Public Access:
- Financing the Acquisition: final tally
Title to the land is held by the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT), a state-wide land trust devoted to preserving rural and urban agriculture land for sustainable purposes. For more information, visit www.osalt.org.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department manages conservation easements on a portion of the land nearest the State Park for watershed protection and restoration. These publicly-held easements are property interests in the land, which protect it in perpetuity from any kind of development. The City of Portland, Metro and the Friends of Tryon Creek State park have all contributed to the easements.
The remainder of the property is subject to a long-term ground lease that ensures that all activities on the property further the goals of sustainability research and education and watershed protection. Both TLC Farm's non-profit programs and the residential community on the land (Cedar Moon) will manage the land to further the charitable mission of OSALT. Cedar Moon members will also continue to volunteer for the TLC Farm non-profit.
The property is open to the public at least two days a week for drop in visits, as well as hosting numerous classes of students each week who will participate in TLC Farm's sustainability education program.
| Uses | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 1,425,000 |
| Closing | 32,000 |
| Option extra | 93,000 |
| Reserves | 50,000 |
| Total Uses | 1,600,000 |
| Final Sources | Monthly Payments | |
|---|---|---|
| ShoreBank Pacific (8.5%) | 600,000 | 4,831 |
| Equity Trust (5%) | 100,000 | 1,083 |
| Government funds for easements | 400,000 | |
| Private donations and grants | 355,000 | |
| Bridge loans | 145,000 | |
| Total Sources: | 1,600,000 | 5,914 |
Personal bridge loans were crucial to our ability to fulfill the terms of the purchase agreement in a timely manner; without them the entire deal may well have been lost, or we may have been required to pay many tens of thousands of dollars more. Our ongoing capital campaign is focused immediately on repaying those generous supporters that made this deal possible, but who are not in a financial position to loan large sums of money indefinitely.
