Follow Lincoln City's public property transactions one deed at a time.
See what land was bought, sold or transferred, how much it cost, how many acres were involved β and where the money came from or went.
π Public records. Plain language. One card at a time.
DO NOT PASS GO UNTIL YOU FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Scroll below for the full transaction details, document numbers and what we're still researching.
PUBLIC MONEY β’ PUBLIC PROPERTY β’ SOURCE DOCUMENTS
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Lincoln City Connect has begun building a City Land Ledger using recorded property documents.
The goal is simple:
What property is coming into public ownership?
What property is leaving?
What is being transferred between the City and Urban Renewal Agency?
How much is being paid or received?
Where does the money come from β and where does it go?
This ledger currently covers December 2024 through August 2026 and will be updated as additional records are located.
Private citizen names have been intentionally omitted.
π’ LAND IN β Property acquired
π΄ LAND OUT β Property sold or conveyed out
π΅ INTERNAL TRANSFER β City β Urban Renewal Agency
βͺ OTHER PROPERTY INTEREST β Easement/right-of-way activity
π FOLLOW THE MONEY β Financial details still being researched
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π 540 NE Highway 101, Lincoln City
$1,600,000 (cash and a secured note)
October 2005
Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency
Lincoln County School District
Tax Lot: 7-11-15-AB-15200
Account: R401284
Recorded Document: 2005-17312
The property includes Lots 1β8 and Lots 12β19, Block 2, DELAKE, along with portions of vacated Lake Drive and a vacated alley.
The City acquired an undivided 75% interest in two property accounts.
π° $10,000 stated consideration
The remaining 25% interest was acquired in October 2025.
π Document 2024-08507
Lincoln County β City of Lincoln City
π° $585,000 stated consideration
The deed completed a Land Sales Installment Contract dating to 2014, rather than representing a simple new December 2024 purchase.
π Document 2024-08613
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Original contract terms, payment history and funding source.
Private ownership β City
π° $450,000
π 5655 N Highway 101
π Document 2025-01152
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Funding source and intended public use.
Private ownership β City
π° $71,250
π 0 SE Port Avenue
π Document 2025-005420
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Funding source and intended use.
Private ownership β City
9 property accounts
π° $395,000
π Document 2025-005647
These properties were later transferred to the Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency in April 2026.
Private ownership β City
3 property accounts
π° $699,000
π Document 2025-005659
These properties were also transferred to the Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency in April 2026.
The City acquired the remaining undivided 25% interest in the same two property accounts involved in the December 2024 transaction.
π° $500
π Document 2025-007765
π° $10,500
Private ownership β City
π° $580,000
π Document 2025-008542
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Funding source and intended use.
Private ownership β Public ownership
π 2240 SE Highway 101
π 1423 SE 23rd Drive
π° Approximately $1.579 MILLION
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Funding source, intended use and subsequent property history.
Private ownership β Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency
Two recorded deeds show combined consideration of:
The recorded transactions were completed in July 2026.
A separate $1.726 million figure has appeared in City financial/planning records. The figures are being kept separate until additional records establish exactly what each amount represents.
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Purchase agreement, appraisal, closing documents and funding source.
Buyer: City of Lincoln City
Recorded: July 31, 2026
Document: 2026-005599
The recorded deed clears up an important detail about this purchase.
County records for individual addresses can make it appear that the City's $1.61 million purchase involved only 1441 NW 17th Street.
It didn't.
The deed identifies the property as:
π 1441 & 1461 NW 17th Street
and identifies three real-property accounts included in the transaction:
R13203 β Tax Lot 13700
R25007 β Tax Lot 14300
R15484 β Tax Lot 13900
The recorded deed establishes the $1.61 million consideration and the multiple accounts involved in the acquisition.
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Funding source and intended public use.
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These transactions matter, but they are not counted as new public land acquisitions when the property was already publicly owned.
Three consecutive deeds transferred property from the City of Lincoln City to the Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency.
1 account β π° $20,000 stated consideration
3 accounts β π° $699,000 stated consideration
9 accounts β π° $395,000 stated consideration
The $699,000 and $395,000 figures correspond to the recorded acquisition prices of those properties when the City acquired them in August 2025.
β οΈ This ledger does not treat $1.114 million as another $1.114 million in land purchases.
The deeds establish the stated consideration amounts, but additional financial records are needed to determine how the transfers were accounted for.
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Did money actually move between City and URA funds? If so, from which fund to which fund?
π 1230 NE 1st Street
City of Lincoln City β Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency
π° $0 consideration
π Document 2026-004852
The deed transfers the City's interest in Hostetler Park to the Urban Renewal Agency for $0 consideration.
π FOLLOW THE RECORD: Why was Hostetler Park transferred to Urban Renewal, and what is its intended future use?
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Public land doesn't only come in.
It also gets sold or conveyed out of public ownership.
When that happens, the Land Ledger will follow both the property and the proceeds.
City β Private ownership
π΅ $49,969 received
π Document 2025-00578
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Which City fund received the $49,969, and what happened to those proceeds?
π 3230 SE Fleet Avenue
City β Private ownership
π΅ $38,000 received
π Document 2025-002688
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Which City fund received the $38,000, and what happened to those proceeds?
City β Private ownership
π΅ $17,000 received
π Document 2026-003296
The recorded deed describes the land as βExchange Property.β
π Additional records are needed to determine the complete circumstances of the exchange.
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: Where was the $17,000 deposited or credited?
City β State of Oregon / ODOT
Approximately 1,040 square feet of land was conveyed for highway purposes.
π΅ $0 β no monetary consideration
π Document 2026-003416
The transfer was authorized through City Ordinance 2026-07.
Based on the property transactions documented in the City Land Ledger so far: Only based on properties from Dec. 2024-July 2026. *Does not include all properties owned.
$10,000 β Schooner Creek / Siletz Bay interest
$450,000 β N Highway 101
$71,250 β SE Port Avenue
$395,000 β Sea Crest Park properties
$699,000 β Nelscott Village properties
$500 β Remaining Schooner Creek / Siletz Bay interest
$580,000 β Vacant Highway 101 property
Approx. $1,579,000 β SE Highway 101 / SE 23rd Drive
$1,025,000 β Lincoln 44 recorded deed consideration
$1,610,000 β NW 17th Street
There is also the $585,000 stated consideration associated with the December 2024 Lincoln County property transaction.
Because that deed completed a Land Sales Installment Contract dating back to 2014, we are keeping it separate rather than automatically treating the entire $585,000 as property spending during this ledger period.
β οΈ This is a working total based on the property records located so far.
It does not include the $1.114 million in April 2026 City β Urban Renewal Agency transfers as additional purchases because those properties were already publicly owned.
It also does not assume that every dollar shown on a deed represents spending from the same City fund or during the recording year.
π FOLLOW THE MONEY: The next step is identifying which public funds paid for these acquisitions.
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So far, the ledger has identified:
$49,969 β January 2025 sale
$38,000 β April 2025 sale
$17,000 β May 2026 transaction
The recorded deeds establish what was received.
The deeds alone don't answer that.
We are working to identify:
β Which City fund received each payment?
β Were the proceeds restricted for a particular purpose?
β Were they subsequently appropriated or spent?
β If spent, what were they used for?
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The City Land Ledger is not finished.
For each transaction, we're working toward documenting:
π Acreage
π° Purchase price
π¦ Funding source
π― Stated purpose
ποΈ City vs. Urban Renewal ownership
π Subsequent transfers
π΅ Sale proceeds
β‘οΈ Where those proceeds went
π Source documents
We are also working toward answering the larger question:
And what has the public paid to acquire it?
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There may be ordinary explanations for every transaction documented here.
The purpose of the City Land Ledger is not to assume what happened. It is to put the public records together so residents can see the transactions and ask informed questions.
No accusations. No assumptions. Just the documents, the land and the numbers.
LINCOLN CITY CONNECT
The City Land Ledger is an ongoing public-record research project. Information will be updated as additional deeds, financial records, purchase agreements, appraisals and other source documents are located.
CITY PROPERTY β’ PUBLIC MONEY β’ $58 MILLION BOND β’ OPEN QUESTIONS
Updated August 8, 2026
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Since LCC first published the Lincoln 44 Public Record review below, additional research has expanded the picture.
Lincoln 44 is only one piece.
As Lincoln City moves toward a November 3, 2026 vote involving up to $58 million in general-obligation bonds for a City Hall/Driftwood Public Library project, LCC has been looking at a much simpler question:
And what has been spent acquiring property?
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LCC's ongoing review has currently identified:
Of those:
And:
Based on the purchase information identified in our review so far:
in identified property purchase costs.
β οΈ That number is not the City's current property value.
It is also not money sitting in a City bank account.
It represents identified acquisition costs from the property records LCC has reviewed so far.
Our review is continuing, including work to determine the total acreage represented by City-owned property.
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City materials have outlined three City Hall/Library alternatives:
Modernization
Estimated project cost:
Existing-Site Redevelopment
Estimated project cost:
New Alternate Site
Estimated project cost:
The City has been moving toward asking voters to authorize up to:
in general-obligation bonds.
For the $58 million option, City materials have presented an estimated levy of approximately:
for approximately 30 years.
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This brings us back to the investigation published below.
Lincoln 44 was purchased by the:
Recorded consideration:
The City has stated that the property was purchased for a future 5-million-gallon water reservoir.
But Lincoln 44 has also been associated with:
That does not establish that the property was purchased specifically for City Hall.
It does not establish that Option 3 had already been selected.
But it does make the timeline important.
Those remain public-record questions.
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There is another number LCC continues to follow:
identified in City budget materials for:
Budget materials carried that appropriation into the 2026β27 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the recorded consideration for Lincoln 44 totals:
Difference:
At this point, LCC has not located a record establishing that these are the same transaction.
Until a record connects them, they should be treated separately.
Which leaves a very simple question:
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The numbers currently being tracked include:
ποΈ 78 identified City properties
π² 32 identified as vacant or undeveloped
π 18 acquired within the last five years
π° $24,873,450 in identified property purchase costs
π§ $1.025 million recorded Lincoln 44 acquisition
β $1.726 million City Hall Operations land appropriation still being traced
π³οΈ Up to $58 million in proposed City Hall/Library bonds
These numbers do not necessarily come from the same funding sources.
They cannot automatically be substituted for one another.
And property already owned by the City may have legal, funding, infrastructure or operational restrictions on how it can be used.
But voters don't need those numbers hidden in separate deeds, budgets, meeting packets and planning documents.
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Before voters are asked to authorize another major public investment, there are reasonable questions worth answering:
None of those questions determines how anyone should vote.
They give residents information to make that decision themselves.
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π Total acreage of City-owned property
π Property-by-property acquisition information
π Funding source for major acquisitions
π Intended use of vacant City property
π Lincoln 44 Purchase and Sale Agreement
π Lincoln 44 appraisal and closing documents
π Timeline showing when Lincoln 44 entered City Hall/Library planning
π Identification of the $1.726 million City Hall Operations land appropriation
π Additional records related to the three City Hall/Library options
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The original Lincoln 44 investigation remains below.
We're leaving it there intentionally.
As additional records are located, readers should be able to see what was known, what was still a question, and what was learned next.
That's what following the public record is supposed to look like.
Lincoln City Connect
LCC reviews the records. You decide what they mean.
Lincoln City Connect is an independent community information resource and is not affiliated with the City of Lincoln City.
PUBLIC MONEY β’ PUBLIC DECISIONS β’ SOURCE DOCUMENTS
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Lincoln County property records now confirm the purchase of the property known as Lincoln 44.
The buyer?
ποΈ Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Lincoln City
The purchase was completed through two recorded transactions:
JLT Lincoln 44, LLC
π° $471,500
JHC Lincoln 44, LLC
π° $553,500
Both deeds were signed July 16, 2026 and recorded with Lincoln County on July 20, 2026. The recorded documents identify the Urban Renewal Agency as the buyer.
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The City has publicly stated that Lincoln 44 was purchased by Urban Renewal for a future water reservoir.
A 5-million-gallon water reservoir was already included as a project in the Nelscott Urban Renewal Plan.
So there is a documented basis for the reservoir acquisition.
But that's not the end of the story.
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Lincoln 44 has also been identified as the property associated with Option 3 of the proposed new City Hall and Driftwood Public Library project.
And the timing is worth following.
Before the Lincoln 44 purchase was completed, the City was asked where Option 3 would be located.
The City's response indicated that the property was being negotiated with the seller and Urban Renewal and that the location could not be disclosed until the transaction was complete.
Then the transaction closed.
The property was identified:
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It tells us something important β but we need to be precise about what it does and does not establish.
The Urban Renewal Agency purchased Lincoln 44.
The recorded consideration totals $1.025 million.
The City says the property was purchased for a future water reservoir.
The same property was already associated with City Hall/Library Option 3 while the acquisition was still being negotiated.
The records reviewed so far do not establish that City officials had already made a final decision to choose Option 3.
Knowing where an option would be located is not necessarily the same as deciding that option will ultimately be selected.
But it leaves an important timeline to examine.
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And more specifically:
When did the City first begin evaluating Lincoln 44 for a new City Hall and library?
Who selected the property for consideration?
When did negotiations to purchase Lincoln 44 begin?
Was City Hall/library use already being contemplated when Urban Renewal began negotiating for the property?
How far had Option 3 planning progressed before the different options were presented to the public?
Those questions aren't accusations.
They're questions the public record should be able to answer.
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This is a separate open question.
LCC has been tracking a City budget appropriation of:
Our original Public Record review identified the appropriation but could not determine which property it represented.
Now we know the recorded Lincoln 44 purchase consideration:
$1,025,000
$1,726,000
β οΈ These should NOT currently be treated as the same transaction.
The records we have do not establish that the $1.726 million appropriation paid for Lincoln 44.
So the original question remains open:
The City's budget discussion indicated that money associated with an anticipated land purchase was carried into the new budget year after the transaction did not close as expected.
Which property is it?
We're still following that record.
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π Lincoln 44 Purchase and Sale Agreement
π Final closing statement
π City/Urban Renewal appraisal
π Source of the $1.025 million used for the purchase
π Records showing when negotiations began
π Records showing when Lincoln 44 entered City Hall/Library planning
π Site plan for the 5-million-gallon reservoir
π Site plan for City Hall/Library Option 3
π Any planned roads or additional development on Lincoln 44
π Records identifying the $1.726 million City Hall Operations land purchase
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A $1.025 million public property acquisition matters on its own.
But Lincoln 44 potentially intersects with several much larger public decisions:
π§ Water infrastructure
ποΈ City Hall
π Driftwood Public Library
π£οΈ Future transportation infrastructure
π Future development
π° Urban Renewal funding
And at the same time, LCC is still tracking a separate $1.726 million City Hall Operations land-purchase appropriation.
Putting those records together doesn't mean they're all funded from the same source or that one expenditure could simply be used for another.
It means residents can see the City's major financial and property decisions in one place β which was the purpose of your Public Record page from the beginning.
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DOCUMENTED
Supported by a public record.
CONFIRMED
Verified through more than one reliable source or an official record.
UNCONFIRMED
Information LCC is still working to verify.
QUESTION
Something the available public record does not yet answer.
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Lincoln City Connect
LCC reviews the records. You decide what they mean.
Lincoln City Connect is an independent community information resource and is not affiliated with the City of Lincoln City.