Before Carson, Chief Justice, and Gillette, Van Hoomissen, Durham, Kulongoski, and Riggs, Justices. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed. J. This is an appeal from a declaratory judgment that held that defendant Cascade General, Inc., is the owner of certain dry docks located on the property of plaintiff Ken Leahy Construction, Inc., and that required defendant to take possession of the dry docks. The Court of Appeals reversed that judgment. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Defendant is a ship-repair company based in Portland.
Ken Leahy and two partners own a tract of land adjacent to the Columbia River known as the Bradwood property. The Bradwood property consists of 270 acres of forest land and 32 acres of marine industrial land. In the summer of 1990, plaintiff and defendant began discussions about developing the Bradwood property as a ship-repair facility. As the discussions progressed, plaintiff contends that the parties reached an agreement under which plaintiff would develop and construct the facility for defendant at cost plus 10 percent. Plaintiff contends that the parties agreed not to put their development agreement in writing to protect defendant's relationship with the Port.