Northwest Bank is suing to foreclose on the Pearl District building that houses Portland's 200-bed NW Northrup Shelter, which is scheduled to close September 18, 2026.
Steve Cook, executive director of Blanchet House, said its 75-bed women's shelter Bethanie's Room has turned away five to 10 women each night since the 200-bed NW Northrup Shelter a quarter-mile away closed last week, and is fielding calls from emergency rooms and first responders with nowhere else to send people. City data cited by KATU showed Northrup accounted for 24% to 31% of all city shelter stays each month between October 2025 and February 2026. Portland Solutions spokesperson Laura Rude said six other city overnight shelters have beds available nightly, that the city holds flex beds, and that it is prepared to expand hours and capacity under emergency weather declarations.
OPB reported the Northrup Shelter closed September 18 after one year of operation.
In a "Straight Talk" interview, Mayor Keith Wilson said the city "had always expected to flex down" after opening 1,500 shelter beds in his first year and that "the measure is how many beds we have empty," stating the city has empty beds nightly. Wilson said a central-city count last week found tent encampments down 93% from 2022 and zero RVs on the Sunday night count. A city spokesperson said six city-run overnight shelters remain open, including two in Old Town with beds generally available.
The 200-bed Northrup Shelter in the Pearl District, run by the Salvation Army and open 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., closed Friday, one year after opening as part of Mayor Keith Wilson's plan to open 1,500 new overnight shelter beds by December 2025. Wilson announced the closure in April as a budget-balancing measure, calling it "our highest cost facility"; a city spokesperson said the shelter averaged 98 guests nightly in September. The Salvation Army said the shelter served more than 2,700 people in its year of operation, and the city's shelter availability website now lists 530 overnight shelter beds.
Northrup is the second overnight-only shelter to close this year; a Centennial neighborhood shelter closed in April.
The 200-bed NW Northrup Shelter is set to close permanently on September 18, one year after it opened, and the city said priority services in the area — camp removals, trash pickup, and perimeter security checks — end with the closure. Blanchet House's Bethanie's Room, a 75-bed women's shelter nearby, is already hitting capacity, and executive director Steve Cook said demand is rising even before nearby shelters close.
The shelter building's owner faces a foreclosure suit by Northwest Bank, reported August 27; the closure is one of several this year attributed by the city and county to budget cuts.
Northwest Bank filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on August 25 alleging that developer Vanessa Sturgeon, Sturgeon Development Partners and North Pearl LLC defaulted on a $6 million loan on the Pearl District building that houses the 200-bed NW Northrup Shelter and now owe $7.2 million in payments and interest. The city leases the building for $18,000 a month; the shelter is set to close permanently on September 18, one year after opening. Mayoral spokesman Cody Bowman said the city does not anticipate the lawsuit will affect the planned closure.
In March, the owners of the neighboring ORO Apartments sued the city of Portland and shelter operator the Salvation Army for $6 million in Multnomah County Circuit Court; that suit remains ongoing.