From this distance, it's possible to visualize this as a set-up for a big real estate deal involving the former Greyhound block and adjacent Union Station property.
Portland is switching to a new city government system, so it's hard to say how things will work out. My grandfather was on the committee that set up the old system (before WWI), so there were a lot of years since for people to learn how to work the levers.
AORTA, the Oregon rail advocates, just completed a survey of the candidates for the reshaped Portland city council, so the Union Station issue had not come up. One candidate specifically discussed the intercity bus station issue, and here is the statement.
Prosper Portland Purchase of Greyhound Station: It’s unacceptable that intercity riders are forced to wait in the cold and rain along NW Station Way. We should purchase the former Greyhound station currently being used as a homeless shelter. Once we’ve ended unsheltered homelessness and can begin reducing the size of our shelter system we should convert the facility back to transit use. The expansion of the POINT system and other intercity buses means we need to offer a place for intercity bus riders to wait and transfer. Providing a centralized intercity bus station available to be used by future regional express buses and private coaches is essential to becoming a world-class transit city.
(POINT is the marketing name for state-sponsored routes. They load curbside at Union Station by the baggage room.)
