Hotel files suit in attempt to move Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - It’s a homeless camp that’s been in downtown Portland for five years, but now a neighboring hotel is trying to give “Right 2 Dream Too” the boot.

The owners of the Grove Hotel in Chinatown have filed a lawsuit trying to evict the camp as they plan to remodel. They say the property is redeveloping into a high-end tourist destination with restaurants on the main floor.

The lawsuit, which was filed days ago, argues that the homeless camp interferes with that renovation, contending the camp is lowering both the neighborhood property values and the value of the proposed project.

Meanwhile, more than 50 people are living at the camp and call it home. The camp is sanctioned by the city, and Right 2 Dream Too advocate Ibrahim Mubarak says this new development is another way to take advantage of the city’s less fortunate.

“They building these high tech places but not enough for poor people to live in and try still making money off the back of the poor,” he told FOX 12.

Bob Naito, the new owner of the hotel property, claims he thought the camp would move and that he likely would not have invested had he known it was permanent.

“If we had known that R2D2 would be there indefinitely, we never would have bought the property from the city in the first place, and we certainly wouldn’t be able to attract any investors,” he explained.

City leaders have struggled to find another location for the camp. A year ago, the Portland City Council voted to move the camp to a different neighborhood, but a ruling by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals blocked the move, leaving the camp with an uncertain future.

An organizer from Right 2 Dream Too told FOX 12 that they’re meeting at City Hall Thursday night trying to figure out the next steps to this lawsuit.