Today, we are following up and trying to unpack a very interesting and contentious meeting in Hillsboro, Oregon, this past week. The State of Oregon descended on the Hub City to have a mandatory hearing about Governor Tina Kotek’s announcement that she intends to use her extraordinary unilateral powers to draw a line over 373 acres in NW Hillsboro and bring them into the Urban Growth Boundary. In doing so, she will simultaneously make history and violate the precepts of Oregon’s Land Use systems and laws. Farmland advocates made the best arguments in the room at the hearing, exposing that the narrative that there is no land for Industrial growth in Hillsboro is false. The other side argued that more land needs to come in because without more land for industrial, we lose our edge as a tech center. The CHIPS ACT and the BILLIONS it offers have State leaders licking their chops and landowners wanting a way out.
The entire hearing was overshadowed by an onslaught by the owners of about 1,400 acres of land West of the proposed 373 acres. That group has had lobbyists and land brokers working for it. It has been contributing to politicians and having private meetings with those politicians for many years—that 1.400 acres were mentioned repeatedly at the hearing to the point it was obnoxious—more on this group in a separate article to come. The hearing was for a specific 373-acre allocation of land, which the Herald first predicted would come into our boundaries as a part of the CHIPS ACT if anything does. It is sad and unfortunate that so many people were not allowed to testify on the 373-acre proposal at the hands of that group. Vince Porter, who was representing the Governor, should not have allowed that, but it seemed he was well aware that was coming, and it speaks volumes as to what might come next.
FOCUS ON THE 373 ACRES
Having dispatched with that bit of truth, the article we covered on the 3 Billion dollar plus NSTC Center, which the CHIPS ACT will fund, is linked below. That will help you understand the magnitude of what a center like that will mean to Oregon.
Extreme Ultraviolet Center Slated For Hillsboro Once Kotek Expands The Urban Growth Boundary
Governor Kotek and her team must rise above the screaming principals of what would be a multi-billion dollar real estate deal (1,400 additional acres) and focus on those 373 acres. The land inclusion will fill a gap in Hillsboro’s Urban Growth Boundary and open up enough land for dozens of semiconductor-related companies. That, paired with the 1,000-acre Hillsboro already has sitting empty and ready, will create more jobs than the City can support with power, water, sewer, roads, and housing. Hillsboro’s abundant employment is well documented, and it is time for other cities to share in these economic riches.
The only example of what an NSTC Research facility would look like in the United States is NY Creates In Albany, New York. This world-class tech campus is nestled on about 70 acres and is a Non-Profit 501 C-3 that includes stakeholders from New York government players, the tech industry, and Universities. The entity has created 3,300 jobs on campus and tens of thousands throughout New York. It has a Tech High School on campus, housing options, restaurants, offices, and facilities for ASML and many other private companies. The result is a research and job creation engine. Hillsboro and Oregon must, over time, wean itself off of Chip Production and lean on these high-paying jobs. Here is why:
- Semiconductor Facilities are dirty, heavy polluters, and not a first choice in anyone’s backyard.
- The resources required for more Fabs are onerous.
- Other states, such as Texas, Arizona, Ohio, and New York, are building much larger fabrication clusters than Oregon.
- The promise of “High-Paying” jobs is a false narrative. Oregon has actually lost thousands of tech jobs in the last decade despite massive increases in facilities, utility consumption, and government tax incentives. We are backing a dying horse, and we see that in the news daily; Intel is not a company to support.
- The 10,000-pound gorilla in the room is AI and Robotics. It is undisputed that robotics and AI will automate the actual production of these computer chips to the point of eliminating at least 50 percent of all jobs in production within 5 to 10 years. Creating more environmentally unsound facilities will lead to a trap of huge financial drains with no revenues.
Oregon is not a place to chase short-term phantom profits by converting more of our farmland- again, we refer to the great man’s quote, Governor Tom McCall.
Looking At NY CREATES
We covered the fact that our Mayor, City Manager, and Economic Development team spent the week in Japan on some secretive mission just before this big hearing. No doubt they are working on jobs and more production facilities. But they should have been looking at the NY Creates Facility in Albany, New York. This type of center and anything like it would be the right fit for Oregon and worthy of the Governor’s attention. It is worth considering adding some more land. Since our City leaders and State Ec-Dev teams have not been there, the Herald will outline what that opportunity would look like on the 373 Acres in Hillsboro, Oregon.
It’s pretty impressive. It looks so much like the Nike World Campus, too! Notice the ASML signage on the buildings and the various research buildings. And I must love the Tech Valley High School installed in the building. With 200 students immersed in that facility, people are fighting to get their kids there.
NY CREATES BECOMES OREGON CREATES
OK, so let’s pick up NY Creates, which has about 70 acres of virtual campus with hundreds of housing units, 1000s of parking stalls, and 2.5 million SF of buildings, and transport it to the 373 acres. Ready?
Above are the 373 acres Governor Kotek is proposing to bring into the UGB, as shown with the NY Creates campus virtually placed onto it with all of its assets and several hundred on-site housing units. Talk about Live/Work and walkable! The remaining 1,400 acres of land that needs to be tabled for the immediate future is shown on the left margin. All the land on the right margin is already in the Industrial Growth Boundary and will provide hundreds of prime Industrial land.
Let’s look back at the land that Hillsboro has today inside its boundaries, ready to develop into tech centers and parts and chips manufacturing fabs. Each Blue dot is placed on a site of 100 acres or more.
Can we all agree that Hillsboro does not need more Industrial land? Other than enriching some landowners and pleasing politicians, there is nothing that would or should compel Governor Kotek to add more land to our existing UGB. She really can’t do it.
Why An NSTC Research Center / Extreme Ultra Violet Center Is Good Gor Oregon
Pulling back into the upper atmosphere and looking at what NY Creates Means to New York as a State, we see the value shared across the State. Hillsboro speaks of its Tech Cluster and why Chip Fabs needs to be in Hillsboro or nearby. However, a center like NY Creates is a game changer that will enrich Hillsboro and its locations across Oregon. Look at how many communities are working together in New York. Companies, Universities, and Non-Profits are all in a 600-mile triangle, creating a massive tech corridor that dwarfs anything we have made.
Here is a look at how many miles this New York Triangle includes.
Six hundred miles in perimeter, the New York Tech Triangle is supported and pushed forward into the future by NY Creates. This sort of influence would have huge impacts on all of our cities up and down I-5 and have a considerable impact on the return of Portland as a business headquarters. With proper Tax Incentives, Portland would become a Tech Hub that would greatly benefit from the Center in Hillsboro. Why their leaders are not using their considerable powers to force this direction is beyond me. Imagine Lloyd Center as a tech hub, 20 stories high! Redevelopment up and down I-5 and in Portland would be the ultimate win for Oregon and all of its people. Hillsboro and some powerful landowners need to be seen from the perspective they must be seen; they are not interested in the greater good. As a Hillsboro resident, I can assure you we have more jobs here than we need; we have enjoyed the benefits and suffered the negative environmental and economic impacts (roads, air pollution, housing, soaring utility rates). We are fine- now it is time for more of the State to benefit.
What Would An Oregon Creates Look Like?
Taking the approximate perimeter of the NY Tech Corridor and including Clark County, we see a true Silicon Forest emerge and grow – not just the Hillsboro version. Centered around the I-5 Corridor and adding Portland State, WOU, Willamette, Lewis and Clark, George Fox, Pacific U, Oregon State, and the University of Oregon within its confines, this new Tech Corridor supported by this world-class campus in Hillsboro becomes more equitable, robust, and a cash cow for our Oregon!
Cities like Corvallis, home to HP, have industrial lands available and ready to go. Again, let’s move towards innovation and job creation using R&D and emerging technologies and distance ourselves from the retracting income-generating automated/robotic future of chip manufacturing. We can do both and have both, but let’s be smarter.
I hope the Governor is paying attention- she has good advisors. But can she resist the political pressures of our Mayor, our Mayor to be Beach Pace, or Senator Janeen Sollman- all of whom have been accepting campaign money and meeting with these landowners for years? I sure hope so.
If the Governor or any of you reading this do not like what we have laid out here, listen to a high-level engineer who lives in Hillsboro and works at Intel. His bravery in speaking out at the hearing is exemplary. His truth is eye-opening. Until next time, stay healthy everyone!
