Salem, Oregon
Salem is Oregon's capital and the State is its largest landowner; Marion County strips owner names from its free roll but still prints each account's last recorded buyer and price, and Oregon deeds must state their price.
12 buildings · 12 with an owner established · 17 sources · 9 tier A · 3 tier B · prepared 2026-10-15
Can you find out who owns it?
Oregon records title by deed with the county clerk, and every deed conveying fee title must state the true and actual consideration on its face (ORS 93.030), so sale prices are public. Most of Salem is in Marion County; West Salem, across the Willamette, is in Polk County. Marion County's Assessor removed owner names from its free monthly roll download in 2015, and its GIS parcels carry no owner ('a written request must be made'); the owner shows per account only in the Assessor's Property Records site, behind a disclaimer page with an Accept button. But the same free roll still carries each account's last recorded sale, with the buyer's name and price, and the weekly sales files name grantor and grantee for every sale. The County Clerk publishes no deeds online: six public terminals at the courthouse, $0.25 a page. Oregon bars new local transfer taxes (ORS 306.815).
Is ownership public?An open dataset names the owner
Cost of one title searchNo fee to look: Marion County Assessor Property Records shows owner per account free (behind a disclaimer Accept page, not passed here). Clerk: no documents online; six public terminals at 555 Court St NE; $0.25 a page printed; a search fee may be charged for staff help over ten minutes
Bulk ownership dataMarion County Assessor Comprehensive Download (monthly zip, free): every account with values, use class, acreage and the last recorded sale's grantee, grantor, price and instrument — but no owner-of-record or mailing address since 1 Feb 2015. Weekly sales CSVs (2020–2026) name grantor and grantee. The GIS parcels with owner names are released only on written request
Sale pricesEvery sale, with its address
Sites that forbid taking their data
- salemreporter.com — “Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials … for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only … you may not: modify or copy the materials; use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display”
1
The marquee buildings
The towers that set the tone of the core, and who holds them. A price is the price a document states, on the date it states — not an estimate of what the building is worth now.
| Building | Use | Owner | Owner type | Last price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon State Capitol and Capitol Mall office complex 900 Court St NE, Salem |
Civic | State of Oregon The County roll classes every account on the Capitol Mall as State property. In the four map sections around the Capitol (7S 3W 22, 23, 26, 27) it carries 61 State-class accounts on about 76 acres with $661M of exempt real market value (tax year 2025, roll file of 1 Sep 2026); the account at the Capitol's own address, 900 Court St NE, carries $125.4M. ORS 276.002 gives control of the Capitol's use to the Legislative Assembly's Legislative Administration Committee, and ORS 276.046 lets the Department of Administrative Services acquire and improve land in the capitol area. No sale is recorded on these accounts. |
Government | —A |
| Oregon State Penitentiary 2605 State St, Salem |
Institutional | State of Oregon The single most valuable account on Salem's roll: a State-class account of 166.8 acres at 2605 State St carrying $435.8M of exempt real market value (tax year 2025). The Department of Corrections lists the Penitentiary at that address (s11). The roll does not say what else the account takes in; the Oregon State Hospital on Center St NE, operated by the Oregon Health Authority, was not separately identified on the roll and is not claimed here. The Department's two other Salem prisons are also State-class accounts: Oregon State Correctional Institution (3405 Deer Park Dr SE, 366.4 acres, $103.8M exempt) and Santiam Correctional Institution (4005 Aumsville Hwy SE, 75.2 acres). |
Government | —A |
| Salem Hospital (Salem Health) 890 Oak St SE and 665 Winter St SE, Salem |
Institutional | Salem Hospital (Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics) The two main hospital accounts are exempt as charitable property: 890 Oak St SE (9.44 acres, $269.8M exempt) and 665 Winter St SE (13.10 acres, $226.2M), together nearly $500M. Neither carries a recorded sale, so the roll names no holder on them. The roll does name 'Salem Hospital' as last buyer on 22 accounts (17 acres, $126.7M exempt, including 2925 Ryan Dr SE at $90.3M) and 'Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics' on 42 more (14.3 acres). The owner named here rests on those adjacent accounts. The deed for the two main parcels was not opened, so it is tier B. |
Institution | —B |
| Willamette University 900 State St, Salem |
Institutional | Willamette University The roll names Willamette University as last buyer on 15 accounts around the campus (7.0 acres, $14.7M exempt). Among them is 690 Ferry St SE, bought from the City of Salem in September 2007 for $4.8M. A further 25.74-acre school-exempt account at 300 Winter St SE carries $156.0M of exempt value but no recorded sale. It sits beside the campus, but its holder is not named on the roll and is not claimed here. |
Institution | $4,800,000 2007-09 690 Ferry St SE (2.50 acres), bargain-and-sale deed from the City of Salem; last recorded sale on the account A |
| Salem Center (downtown mall) 401 and 480 Center St NE; 400 High St NE, Salem |
Retail | OGSC2 LLC The County sales file records one deed (2024-6498, 5 March 2024, $4.5M) moving the mall's units on both sides of Center St NE to OGSC2 LLC. The seller is recorded as RSS JPMCC2012LC19-OR SCL LLC. On 30 August 2024 the former Macy's building at 400 High St NE passed by convenience deeds from Macy's California Realty LLC to OGSC2 LLC and then to OGSC Macys LLC (2024-26953, 2024-27079). The six OGSC accounts carry $14.0M of real market value for 2025, about three times the 2024 price, though the price and the assessment do not cover identical property. Seven other units at the same addresses are held by others, mostly individuals or family trusts, and are not named. |
Private company | $4,500,000 2024-03 Deed 2024-6498, 5 Mar 2024, from RSS JPMCC2012LC19-OR SCL LLC; the County coded it 'sale includes personal property' A |
| Salem Convention Center 200 Commercial St SE, Salem |
Civic | City of Salem The roll classes the 1.13-acre account at 200 Commercial St SE as City property ('City improved'), exempt as City property with $22.0M of exempt real market value. The last recorded conveyance on the account is a 2003 warranty deed at $1.5M, in which a hotel company appears as part grantee for a 50% interest. Whether the Urban Renewal Agency still holds any interest could not be checked: the City's own pages refused this research (Akamai 403). |
Government | —A |
| Oregon State Fairgrounds 2330 17th St NE, Salem |
Civic | State of Oregon Two State-class accounts at 2330 17th St NE, 158.53 and 0.47 acres, exempt as State property, with $53.7M of exempt real market value (tax year 2025). No sale is recorded. The roll does not name the agency that holds it. |
Government | —A |
| McNary Field (Salem Municipal Airport) 3688 Airway Dr SE, Salem |
Land | City of Salem The airport ground is one City-class account (8S 3W 01, tax lot 100) of about 649 acres in two land records, with $105.6M of exempt value. The roll does not name the airport: the account is identified by its position on Airway Dr SE and its size, and the City's airport pages could not be opened, so the identification is tier B. Five State-class accounts sit along Airport Rd SE (about 98 acres). One of them, 775 Airport Rd SE, passed from the Department of Administrative Services to the State Military Department in November 2024 (deed 2024-36115). |
Government | —B |
| Mill Creek Corporate Center — 4775 Depot Ct SE distribution building 4775 Depot Ct SE, Salem |
Industrial | BIT Investment Ninety-Seven LLC A 61.75-acre enterprise-zone commercial account with $111.3M of real market value for 2025, bought in July 2019 for $105.5M. Mill Creek is State and City industrial land, sold off in lots: the roll and sales files show the Department of Administrative Services, with a partner named on the deeds, selling parcels to Pacific Realty Associates LP (2017–2022), Scannell Properties #690 LLC ($6.11M for three lots, 14 Sep 2023, resold the same day for $16.35M) and Capstone Mill Creek Logistics LLC (Nov 2023). The roll does not name the building's tenant. |
Private company | $105,500,000 2019-07 Warranty deed from Mill Creek Logistics Center Owner LLC; last recorded sale on the account A |
| Scannell Corporate Center Lot 1 distribution centre Mill Creek, 8S 2W 07 tax lot 700, Salem |
Industrial | DG Strategic VII LLC The highest-valued taxable account in Salem: 67.5 acres, real market value $145.0M for 2025 ($138.8M of it improvements), classed as industrial principal plant. The deed gives the buyer's address as 100 Mission Ridge, Goodlettsville, TN, which is the business address Dollar General Corp files with the SEC (s15). ownerType rests on that address match; the LLC's own filing was not opened. |
Public company | $17,200,755 2022-12 Warranty deed 2023-228 dated 5 Dec 2022, from Scannell Properties #564 LLC; land before the building was assessed B |
| Kettle Foods plant 3125 Kettle Ct SE, Salem |
Industrial | Kettle Foods Inc The roll names Kettle Foods Inc as buyer by warranty deed (April 2010, no price stated) of the 10.24-acre industrial account at 3125 Kettle Ct SE: real market value $11.8M, plus $35.1M of separately assessed plant on accounts partly exempt under a food-processing exemption. The company's parent was not checked in a filing. |
Private company | —A |
| Chemeketa Community College main campus 4320 Winema Pl NE (Lancaster Dr NE) |
Institutional | Chemeketa Community College The roll names Chemeketa Community College on the 175.49-acre campus account, with $249.2M of exempt value. Its code area (24620) carries no City of Salem levy, so the main campus lies outside the city limits. Inside the city the college holds downtown buildings, including 626 High St NE and 500 Church St NE, the latter bought from Macy's California Realty LLC in 2008 for $840,000. |
Government | —A |
2
The core land
The most valuable ground in the city, and what the public record says about it.
The County roll gives a real market value (RMV) for every account, and exempt public land carries its value as an exemption. So, unlike a non-disclosure state, Salem's most valuable public ground can be ranked. Figures are the County's Comprehensive Download (tax year 2025, file dated 1 Sep 2026) for accounts in the code areas that levy City of Salem taxes, summed by this research. They are assessments, not prices. West Salem (Polk County) is not included.
All accounts in Salem (Marion part), real market value$25.86B
50,775 accounts (43,697 real property). Assessed value $14.63B, because Oregon's Measure 50 caps assessed value below market. Exempt value is a further $5.46B. Marion County roll, tax year 2025.
Most valuable account$435.8M exempt
Oregon State Penitentiary, 2605 State St, 166.8 acres, State class. Marion County roll, tax year 2025.
Capitol Mall (State, 61 accounts)$661M exempt
About 76 acres in map sections 7S 3W 22, 23, 26 and 27. Marion County roll, tax year 2025.
Highest taxable account$145.0M
Scannell Corporate Center Lot 1 at Mill Creek, 67.5 acres, DG Strategic VII LLC. Next: 4775 Depot Ct SE ($111.3M) and 5065 Countryside Dr NE apartments ($77.3M). Marion County roll, tax year 2025.
3
Who owns the town
At this scale the significant owner is rarely a trust or a fund: it is one or two local holding companies, a family in its second or third generation, and often the land around the town rather than the buildings in it.
Marion County publishes no owner names in bulk, so this list is built from two roll fields that are published. The first is the property class: the Assessor classes exempt land by the kind of public or charitable body that holds it. The second is the buyer named on each account's last recorded sale. Inside Salem's Marion County code areas the roll carries 43,697 real-property records on 22,187 acres of tax lots (tax year 2025, file of 1 Sep 2026). Of that ground, 31% sits in an exempt class. The City of Salem holds the most land (13.5%, mostly parks and the airport). The State of Oregon holds 8.1% of the land but the most exempt value, $1.70B, from the Capitol Mall, three prisons and the fairgrounds. West Salem (Polk County) is not counted.
| Name | Type | Inside Salem (Marion County part) |
|---|---|---|
| City of Salem (incl. Urban Renewal Agency) Classes 940–943 ('City', 'City improved', 'City taxable leased'). The largest are a 795-acre account in 7S 3W 32 (the Minto-Brown Island area), the 649-acre airport account on Airway Dr SE, 279 acres in 7S 3W 27, Bush's Pasture at 600 Mission St SE (85.9 acres) and the Civic Center at 555 Liberty St SE (9.8 acres, $38.5M). The Urban Renewal Agency is named as last buyer on 21 records (103 acres). The sales file shows it conveying downtown and Fairview Industrial lots to the City, to developers and to PGE. |
Government | 654 City-class records, about 2,989 acres (13.5%); $749M exempt valueA |
| State of Oregon Classes 960–963. The holdings are the Capitol Mall (61 records, about 76 acres, $661M), Oregon State Penitentiary (166.8 acres, $435.8M), Oregon State Correctional Institution (366.4 acres), the Public Safety campus at 4195 Aumsville Hwy SE (212 acres, moved from Corrections to Public Safety by deed in Oct 2024), the fairgrounds (159 acres) and the Airport Rd SE group. The State is also selling land: since 2017 the Department of Administrative Services and Corrections have sold Mill Creek lots, and Corrections sold 390.5 acres at 5465–5475 Turner Rd SE for $9,052,187 (deed 2023-3957, Apr 2023). |
Government | 166 State-class records, about 1,803 acres (8.1%); $1.70B exempt valueA |
| Salem-Keizer School District 24J The roll names the district as last buyer on 36 records under several spellings, including 3850 Pringle Rd SE (30.2 acres, bought from the State in 1993 for $324,600) and four lots on Broadway St NE taken from the City in June 2018. The wider school class (147 records, 959 acres, $1.07B exempt) also takes in Willamette University and private schools, so it is not the district's total. |
Government | 36 records named, about 170 acres; public and private school class 959 acres in allA |
| Marion County Classes 950–951. The County's Center St NE campus (2970–3160 Center St NE, 25.6 acres) and its Aumsville Hwy SE facilities (3550 and 3950 Aumsville Hwy SE, 31.4 acres) are the largest. The County is named as buyer on 24 records, among them 3550 Aumsville Hwy SE, bought from State Corrections in 2005 for $236,800. |
Government | 42 County-class records, about 77 acres; $164M exempt valueA |
| Salem Hospital / Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics See the marquee entry. Charitable-class (980–982) property in the city is 377 records, 358 acres and $973M of exempt value. The two hospital accounts make up half of that value. |
Institution | 64 records named, about 31 acres; main campus ~$496M exemptB |
| Housing Authority of the City of Salem The sales file shows the Authority moving property into tax-credit partnerships: 4979 Sunnyside Rd SE to Salem Housing Preservation 9 Percent LP for $10.15M (Dec 2019), Hawthorne Ave NE parcels to Housing Preservation 4 Percent LP for $9.53M (Dec 2019), 370 Church St SE to Robert Lindsey Tower Housing LLC for $1.9M (2014) and 2560–2586 Lee St SE to Santiam River Charlie LLC for $3,234,001 (Dec 2025). |
Government | 33 records named as buyer (5.3 acres)A |
| Willamette University See the marquee entry. |
Institution | 15 records named (7.0 acres)A |
| Portland General Electric Company PGE bought 3965 Old Strong Rd SE from the Urban Renewal Agency in 1995 for $375,000 and 5.03 acres on Culver Rd SE from the City in 2009 for $634,200. Utilities and railroads, Union Pacific among them, are assessed centrally by the State and appear on the roll only as unlocated utility accounts. Two such accounts carry $149.7M and $134.1M of value in the city's code areas, but they name no company, so they are not attributed. |
Public company | 10 records named as buyer (5.3 acres), plus centrally assessed utility valueA |
| Federal government and Confederated Tribes of Siletz The largest is 184.5 acres at 3750 Chemawa Rd NE ($50.3M exempt), on the federal and tribal exemption codes. The roll names the Confederated Tribes of Siletz as buyer of 18.95 acres at 4755 Astoria St NE. |
Government | 19 federal-class records, about 269 acresA |
5
Who builds the houses
New-home building in this market: the volume, and the firms behind it. Ownership of a builder matters as much as its volume — a private-equity platform and a family firm behave differently.
One national builder dominates new-house building in Salem. Oregon deeds state the price and the County's sales file names the seller. Counting sales of houses built in the year of sale or the year before, sold in 2024–2025 inside the city's Marion code areas, gives 599 sales; builders were the sellers on almost all of them. D.R. Horton made 318 of them (53%). This is this research's count from the County file, not an official league table, and it leaves out West Salem (Polk County). Builders whose company name is a person's full name are left out under this site's naming rule.
| Name | Type | New-house sales, 2024–2025 (Salem, Marion part) |
|---|---|---|
| D.R. Horton Recorded as 'DR Horton Inc-Portland', 'D.R. Horton Inc' and 'D R Horton Inc - Portland'. 119 of its sales fell in 2025. |
Public company | 318 (53%)A |
| Forrest Ridge Homes Inc Regional builder; ownership not checked in a filing. |
Private company | 25A |
| Lennar Northwest LLC | Public company | 24A |
| Wind River Homes LLC | Private company | 23A |
| Comfort Homes LLC | Private company | 21A |
| Banner Homes LLC | Private company | 19A |
6
Commercial landlords
The commercial side, counted separately from housing: who holds the office, retail and industrial floor area.
No REIT filing was consulted for Salem, and the roll names no owners, so this list ranks commercial, industrial and apartment accounts by the buyer on their last recorded sale, which shows who has been buying, not a full count of who owns. The largest values are at Mill Creek, the State and City industrial park off I-5 that DAS has been selling lot by lot. Values are 2025 real market values.
| Name | Type | RMV 2025 (accounts, acres) |
|---|---|---|
| DG Strategic VII LLC See the marquee entry. The buyer address matches Dollar General Corp's SEC filing address. |
Public company | $145.0M (1 account, 67.5 acres)B |
| BIT Investment Ninety-Seven LLC 4775 Depot Ct SE, bought July 2019 for $105.5M. The entity's parent was not established. |
Private company | $111.3M (1 account, 61.8 acres)A |
| Pacific Realty Associates LP Bought Mill Creek lots from DAS and Corrections between May 2017 and May 2022, for $694,594 to $3,778,331 each. Includes 4698 and 4668 Truax Dr SE. |
Private company | $69.8M (5 accounts, 82.4 acres)A |
| HD Salem OR Landlord LLC 4999 Depot Ct SE. Bought from DAS in Dec 2009 for $5,118,243. |
Private company | $62.7M (1 account, 52.6 acres)A |
| State Investments LLC | Private company | $57.3M (12 accounts, 19.9 acres)A |
| CPI Sundial Owner LLC A manufactured-home park at 2410 Lancaster Dr SE, bought 2019 for $32.5M. CPI Salem One LLC bought 5475 Gaffin Rd SE in 2021 for $28.25M ($35.1M RMV). |
Private company | $58.1M (1 account, 63.6 acres)A |
?
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- Polk County (West Salem) not covered: the Polk County Assessor's data hub and PolkMap were found but not read, so West Salem's owners, sales and values are missing from every count here.
- Salem Center: news reports seen only as search snippets say the seller was a special servicer and that the mall has about 289,000 sq ft. Salem Reporter's terms forbid commercial use and JLL's terms page would not render, so neither article was opened and neither claim is used.
- Oregon State Hospital (2600 Center St NE): no account at that address was found in the Salem code areas. It may sit inside the 166.8-acre State account at 2605 State St, but that is not established.
- The 25.74-acre exempt account at 300 Winter St SE ($156.0M) borders Willamette University. Its holder is not named on the roll.
- Amazon or data-centre facilities: none could be tied to an owner from a document. The roll names no tenants, and buyers at Mill Creek are LLCs whose parents were not established, except DG Strategic VII LLC, whose address matches Dollar General's.
- Owner of record for every account is free in the Assessor's Property Records site, but only behind a disclaimer with an Accept button that this research does not pass. The 'last buyer' used here can differ from the current owner where title moved without a recorded sale.
- City of Salem budget, urban-renewal and property-inventory pages: blocked by Akamai (403), so the Urban Renewal Agency's current holdings and the Convention Center's title arrangements are unverified.
§
Sources
- Assessor's Office — Reports & Data: Comprehensive Download ('As of February 1, 2015, the owner's name and mailing address information is not available'; updated monthly) and weekly Sales Data — Marion County Assessor · openA
- Comprehensive Download (ORCATS999 roll file, RDATE 1 Sep 2026, tax year 2025): 138,179 accounts with RMV land and improvements, property class, acres, situs, last sale year/price/grantee/grantor — Marion County Assessor · openA
- Property Sales Data 2025 and 2026 (CSV): sale price, date, deed instrument, situs, grantor and grantee names — Marion County Assessor · openA
- Marion County Parcels (Open Data View) — 'Ownership information has been removed and a written request must be made for this information' — Marion County IT-GIS / Assessor · openA
- Marion County Assessor's Property Records — disclaimer page with Accept button (not passed) — Marion County Assessor · registrationA
- Obtaining document copies and recording information — 'we do not publish any documents on-line'; six public terminals; $.25 per page — Marion County Clerk · openA
- ORS 93.030 — instruments conveying fee title must state the true and actual consideration — Oregon State Legislature · openA
- ORS 306.815 — local taxes on transfer of real property prohibited — Oregon State Legislature · openA
- Polk County Assessor — department page and master fee schedule (36,000+ accounts; maps $1–$2 a page); data via PolkMap and the Polk data-download hub — Polk County · openA
- ORS chapter 276 (Public Facilities): 276.002 Legislative Administration Committee controls use of the State Capitol; 276.046 DAS authority to acquire and improve land in the capitol area; 276.053 State Capitol State Park — Oregon State Legislature · openA
- Prison locations — Oregon State Penitentiary 2605 State St; Oregon State Correctional Institution 3405 Deer Park Dr SE; Santiam Correctional Institution 4005 Aumsville Hwy SE — Oregon Department of Corrections · openA
- Property Sales Data 2024 (CSV) — includes deed 2024-6498 (Salem Center) and 2024-26953/27079 (400 High St NE) — Marion County Assessor · openA
- Property Sales Data 2023 (CSV) — Mill Creek deeds 2023-2765, 2023-3957, 2023-27836, 2023-27892, 2023-34615 — Marion County Assessor · openA
- Property Sales Data 2022 (CSV) — deed 2023-228 (dated 5 Dec 2022), Scannell Corporate Center Lot 1 — Marion County Assessor · openA
- EDGAR submissions record, Dollar General Corp (CIK 0000029534): business and mailing address 100 Mission Ridge, Goodlettsville, TN 37072 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Salem Reporter — Privacy and Terms ('Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy … for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only') — Salem Reporter · openA
- Property Sales Data 2025 (CSV) — Marion County Assessor · openA