[MarkDaMan]

Lots of base hits add up to solid office market in Q3
Demand for office space isn't exactly brisk, or sluggish
Portland Business Journal - November 3, 2006
by Wendy Culverwell
Business Journal staff writer

A steady stream of moderate deals set the pace for office leasing in the third quarter, and signs emerged that landlords are finally starting to raise rents for Class A space.

"There weren't any big home runs or huge wows. It was continued consistent and somewhat plodding growth," said Scott Madsen, a principal with Capacity Commercial Group, a boutique real estate firm in downtown Portland.

The largest straight-up office lease of the quarter involved WebMD, which moved from Old Town/Chinatown to a 47,000-square-foot spot at Montgomery Park, the Class B behemoth in Northwest Portland.

The quarter's other major deals generally involved decidedly moderate new leases involving 22,000 square feet and usually much less.

"The demand is not brisk. It is more steady," agreed Craig Reinhart, managing principal for Cresa Partners Portland, which specializes in tenant representation.

Builders have indicated they are responding to demand with a handful of new projects, most famously Equity Office's $100 million project for Southwest First Avenue and Main Street. Nothing will be ready for at least two years.

And that means tenants will continue to compete for the same dwindling pool of available spots, particularly in downtown Portland, Lloyd Center and the perennially popular Kruse Way/Highway 217 area.

Vacancy rates dropped in all three markets, according to research by the major brokerage houses. Colliers International, Cresa and Grubb & Ellis each uses a slightly different calculation, but the net result is that downtown Portland vacancy rates are comfortably below 7 percent -- low enough that building owners have started raising rents.

Pacwest Center, Fox Tower, One Main Place and the Brewery Blocks Building 2 are among those upping their asking rents. The Brewery Blocks asked $18.50 a square foot a year ago. Now, the range is $19.50 to $21. Elsewhere, owners are asking $30 and more per square foot for premium locations.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/11/06/story10.html?t=printable

[pdxstreetcar]

hmm... I wonder if One Waterfront Place (www.onewaterfrontplace.com) will reawake from the dead soon????

[tworivers]

^^^ Didn't someone post recently that they had heard through the grapevine that One Waterfront Place's leasing agent was possibly working out a deal with someone?

BTW I wish everyone released such nice, thorough renderings of their buildings.

[mcbaby]

i checked out the renderings of One Waterfront and even though they are trying to pass off the garage as a green garden, it still is a parking garage. I suppose it's proximity to the river limits underground parking but there could have been other ways to limit it's visual impact. will there be street level retail? a boardwalk?

[WonderlandPark]

What is the building proposed at the end of the Hawthorne Bridge, is it office? How likely is that one. The river view of the skyline desperately needs something better than what is there.

[MarkDaMan]

^First and Main, the county has been eyeing the land for a new courthouse, even hinting it might condem the land, but the developer says they are moving forward. The design is mediocre, but better than the parking lot, and will have an innovative bike center.

[pdx2m2]

The developer of one waterfront place is looking again at the market...is talking to brokers about the search for an anchor tenant which is what the project needs to get off the ground.

The parking garage was huge due to PDC's goal of acquiring the riverfront parking lot across the street in trade for parking in the new garage. Now with the condo development occuring in the parking lot there is no need for such a huge parking garage. My guess is that the garage will be reduced in size if the project actually happens.

There was a small retail in the base of the garage although it was token. At the time there didn't seem to be any demand for retail as there is no pedestrian activity on the street.

There was a really cool pedestrian bridge linking waterfront place with the eastern termination of NW Marshal...

[tworivers]

Cool rendering. I hope the bridge remains in the plans if this building goes up.

http://www.onewaterfrontplace.com/images/ped_bridge.jpg

[zilfondel]

Maybe they'll be able to afford it by not blowing it on the garage!

[MarkDaMan]

Office space at a premium
Competition for limited square footage downtown is reviving delayed projects
Thursday, November 09, 2006
DYLAN RIVERA
The Oregonian

When Internet software firm WebTrends Inc. gathered its 300 or so employees for quarterly company meetings last year, it had to rent a nearby downtown hotel ballroom. The company had grown so fast that its workers were split between a few floors in the Fox Tower and the Pacific First Center, across the street. It didn't have enough space in either location for the meetings.

So when it came time last spring to find a single office building with room enough for everyone, company executives discovered that their timing was off. Most buildings were so full that WebTrends couldn't find room for the entire company on contiguous floors of a downtown Portland office building.

"The challenge was finding enough space in a single location that would allow us to stay downtown and have a contiguous space," said Jason Palmer, vice president of marketing. "It was important to us to have that synergy."

WebTrends decided to consolidate in Pacific First, though only three of its five floors will be contiguous.

Like WebTrends, dozens of growing downtown companies and newcomers are looking for office space. But many find themselves caught in a squeeze for premium Class A space that shows signs of getting even tighter. Vacancies are lower than they have been in years, and rents have started to shoot up.

The downtown office market's recovery from a recession that started in 2001 has many people believing that construction of a new office tower isn't far off. A period of office expansion would mark a big departure from the past five years, when most downtown construction consisted of residential condominium towers. What little premium office space was built came in suburban pockets.

While suburban office vacancies overall remain higher, some suburban markets have emerged from the office market recession earlier than downtown. The Kruse Way area of Lake Oswego led the region's office market with the first new building after the recession, the 100,000 square-foot Kruse Oaks II, now near completion.

But evidence is mounting that demand for downtown work space is catching up with the robust demand for downtown living.

"Everybody's going to be very surprised if another building doesn't get financed or if we don't have any new supply in a couple of years," said Mike Williams, associate director of research for the Cushman & Wakefield brokerage.

Consider:

The vacancy rate for Class A office buildings downtown fell to 6.4 percent in the third quarter, down from 8.5 percent a year ago and a high of 14.2 percent in the same quarter of 2002, according to Cushman &Wakefield.

Vacancy is so low that tenants requiring a full floor of Class A space now have only about a half-dozen choices.

Rents increased to $23.88 per square foot a year, including building expenses, up from $21.92 a year ago.

Suburban office tenants have accounted for most of the new leased office space in the metro area in recent years, said Jerry Johnson, a real estate economist with the Johnson Gardner firm in Portland.

But at a time when the city and Multnomah County business taxes still draw ire, downtown remains appealing to some.

Many law firms value close proximity to other large businesses or courthouses where they conduct business. Others say a downtown location gives a business relative proximity to all parts of the metro area, where their employees live and clients work.

"There are certain firms that just want to be downtown," Johnson said. "A Kruse Way location doesn't help if you also serve Gresham."

The emerging downtown space crunch has prompted several office developers to dust off old projects and hire brokers, architects and marketers to make sure they're ready for the current wave of demand.

Planned projects

"We're definitely beginning to see the right balance between supply and demand," said Jim Winkler, developer of One Waterfront Place in the Pearl District.

One Waterfront Place, 100 Columbia and a site now known as First and Main are three major projects that were planned to start in the last boom. Some are being transformed in their planning stages to court tenants in the current boom.

When it was designed in 2001, One Waterfront Place was regarded as a pioneer for designing to meet the gold rating in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program. It still hasn't been built, but now three competitors are trying to capture the green-conscious cachet for themselves.

Louis Dreyfus Property Group is redesigning its 100 Columbia project to meet the design certification program's standards, said Ron Beltz, regional vice president.

Studies are mounting that show productivity gains for companies in environmentally sensitive buildings, and Portland employers value that, Beltz said.

"Tenants will pay for innovative and healthy design in a sustainable building," Beltz said, adding that lower energy costs are part of the appeal.

Equity Office Properties Trust, the largest office landlord in the Portland region and the nation, bought a site in 2005 for a new office tower that would also qualify for the environmental and energy certification. But since its plans became public, Multnomah County officials have talked about condemning the site for a courthouse, and negotiations over that issue have created a cloud.

Equity Office plans to self-finance its building, which makes it likely to be the first developer out of the starting gate. The national firm sold $2.7 billion in office space last year and could choose to start construction without an anchor, even though it has said it would require substantial pre-leasing before construction.

"I think that (Equity Office) has more money than I do," Winkler quipped. "We think we represent a viable opportunity. We've just got to see if there are other people who agree."

Dylan Rivera: 503-221-8532; dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/116304635362900.xml&coll=7

[pdxman]

This is good news...hopefully downtown can capitalize on this and get some projects going. This also brings back the talk of the smart park garage being demolished and gerding/edlin building a new tallest. If the office market continues to surge then maybe it will get put on the fast tracks.

[MarkDaMan]

Office condos put old building to work
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Fred Leeson
The Oregonian

The routine is familiar for converting old buildings to condos: Boot out the tenants, fix up the place and then sell individual units to new residents.

It's different story at 500 S.W. Fifth Ave., in the heart of downtown. The only critters evicted were dead pigeons. And new residents presumably won't be sleeping there, at least not with their employers' permission.

The reason is the Fifth Avenue building contains office condominiums. It's one of the first in a model that could breathe new life into older downtown buildings.

Though common in cities such as Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego, the office condo is just starting to appear in Portland and Seattle, says Josh Fuhrer, the project's manager for Foundation Real Estate Development.

"We know other people have jumped on the model," he says. "We can't claim to have invented it because we stole it from Phoenix."

Fuhrer says research in Phoenix showed that likely buyers of office condos want 3,000 to 5,000 square feet. Floors at 500 S.W. Fifth are exactly 5,000, "so it seemed to make sense."

Buying office space isn't right for every business. Most startups pump every cent into the business, not real estate. And fast-growing companies -- or those hoping for fast growth -- wouldn't want limits on space.

"The real key factor is a mature business that isn't likely to grow in numbers of employees by leaps and bounds," Fuhrer says. Companies with about 18 to 20 office employees fit a 5,000-square-foot floor plan, he adds.

Prime examples are lawyers, accountants and financial services firms. Given depreciation and other tax advantages of ownership, Fuhrer says some office condo buyers wind up with mortgage installments smaller than lease payments. "It becomes a no-brainer in the right circumstances," he says.

So far, the developer says it has commitments for five of the seven floors, although renovation is just beginning. The upgrades will include a new roof, new mechanical systems, earthquake bracing, new windows and elevators.

The building was erected in 1906 by Lot Q. Swetland, a successful candy maker who came to Portland with his parents in 1888. He branched out into hotel operations and real estate development before his death in 1923.

The ground floor held a variety of retail tenants over the years. Camera World started its retail life there in the 1970s, and the same space was the last downtown home of the Caplan's sporting goods store, which closed in 2003.

Fuhrer says upper-floor tenants included hair salons, dentists and architects. Most of the building has been empty since 1999.

During internal demolition, workers found evidence of numerous remodels. "As we were taking the building apart, we found all sorts of historic artifacts buried in the walls," Fuhrer says.

They included old newspapers, a swastika-decorated money clip and a theater ticket to a 1928 performance of "Two-Gun Granny."

New owners are expected to start moving in next summer.

Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/116484633545800.xml?oregonian?pddndt&coll=7

[CouvScott]

Looks like they are ready to begin construction...

Applicant: Richard Dobrot, GBD ARCHITECTS
Site address: SW 1st & Main

The applicant is requesting Design Review approval for a new mixed use office building located on a full-block in Downtown Portland bounded by SW First and Second Avenues and SW Morrison and Main Streets. The project is
a 16-story Class A office building with 350,000 square feet of office space, 20,000 square feet of ground level retail/office and three below grade parking levels to accommodate a total of 294 parking stalls. Modifications requested through Design Review, include increasing the allowed mechanical equipment area on the rooftop; the height of the mechanical equipment penthouse; the height of projections above the mechanical penthouse area; and rear-motion loading.

[Dougall5505]

yes office building construction is coming back to downtown... hopefully

[pdxman]

I'm still waiting to hear anything on that GE project at the smartpark on 10th. I really hope they figure out a way to redo that block--all we need is for a company to relocate their HQ to here in Portland :)

[PacificNW]

pdxman...that brings me to ask....Is there an agency that actually try's to recruit company HQ to Portland...or is the "recruiting methods" passive...in otherwords "just waiting until a company shows interest in Portland"?

There are cities/states/countries that do a good job seeking HQ/large company relocations (Washington/Seattle, Texas/Dallas, Georgia/Atlanta being a few.

[roner]

:previous: I read in the Trib that there is an agency that actively recruits companies to HQ in Portland. I believe it's made up of local CEOs, businesses, and somewhat affiliated with the PBA. I think it also gains funds from grants and donations. I like to hear more about it though. Anyone else have some info?

[pdxman]

Whoever they are, they're not doing a very good job(on a local and state level). It seems like portland/oregon is losing more companies/jobs than it is gaining.

[MarkDaMan]

^the agency roner is speaking of is fairly new. It does take some time to build up contacts and establish a list of available resources they can offer to companies that locate workers to the area...but it is regional, not just Portland.

[roner]

Whoever they are, they're not doing a very good job(on a local and state level). It seems like portland/oregon is losing more companies/jobs than it is gaining.

It may seem like that's true at times, yet the economy keeps absorbing people and a high volume. The trib reported 25,000 newbies in the last year around PDX. I don't know what to think of it. Everyone always complains about the PDX and Oregon economy then moves here. Anyways, PDX (forgetting about the unemployment rate) still fairs better than a lot of other areas.

[PDX City-State]

I read in the Trib that there is an agency that actively recruits companies to HQ in Portland.

They have an uphill climb. I would have previously joined the chorus of people defending Portland as business-friendly--but as I have recently been helping a friend with a start-up business here, I have been in state of utter disbelief. We have all the ingredients of a great place for business--good geography, a cool city where intelligent people flock, a fantastic downtown, educated populace, and tons of close-in underdeveloped land. However, it's the small county and city taxes that honestly make the burbs more attractive. To someone who has never ran a business, two or three percent sounds miniscule--but two or three percent can be half a profit margin of a big company. I would be very surprised if Portland ever lands a truly big company that didn't originate here.

[MarkDaMan]

^Portland is in serious need of tax reform, moreso than the State of Oregon. If the city/county tax on businesses was dropped, and instead a payroll or some other small tax applied to replace part of the lost revenue, Portland would have companies crawling all over themselves to locate here...especially with the news that the state might refund 67% of all business taxes collected due to the f'in kicker.

[roner]

^ I thought the city tax on business was just for companies doing business in the city of Portland. Example: If GE moved here their taxes would be the same in Portland as in Beaverton because all of the business takes place outside of the city.

But I agree with both of you. Portland needs some serious tax reforms. The city has everything employers could ask for (as mentioned by PDX city state). It seems like Portland is still trying to win that egalitarian tax battle with companies from the 70s and companies just go somewhere else.

[PacificNW]

Does anyone know of a site that lists the complete tax burdens of locating/doing business in the top 30 U.S. cities in a comparable fashion? (30 is just a number off the top of my head...any number of cities, including Portland, would work).

Quick late note: I just found the following site: http://www.competitivealternatives.com/results/locationmenu.asp

Portland seems to be pretty competitive in many regards....the property tax issue seems to be an issue compared to some cities but Portland is far from being the worse.

[navyweaxguy]

Lol, the list on that site has Colorado Springs and not Denver....

With the low vacancy rates, what a perfect time for a new tallest :D

[Snowden352]

Portland ranked No. 10 for investment opportunity with office space
Posted by The Oregonian business desk January 5, 2007 17:48
Print | Email

Real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. has ranked Portland No. 10 in the nation for office building "investment opportunity" in 2007, indicating the recent strong demand for purchase of office buildings will continue.

With investors spending tens of billions of dollars chasing real estate investments in recent years, buildings in top-tier cities have become extremely expensive, said David Hill, an investment broker with the firm's Portland office.

"They're saying, 'Where else can we go?' " Hill said. "They're starting to look around."

In 2006, office building sales totaled more than $850 million in about 50 transactions, compared with about $750 million in about 60 deals the prior year, Hill said. Both were record dollar amounts.

This year will continue to be strong, though the dollar volume will likely not match 2006, Hill said, because of that year's sale of the U.S. Bancorp Tower for $279.5 million.

Grubb & Ellis, based in Chicago, also ranked the Seattle area No. 6 for office investment.

Portland stands out as a market with "strong fundamentals," Hill said. Office vacancy rates are in the single digits and are expected to continue to fall. Significant rent increases started two to three years ago in the Kruse Way area of Lake Oswego and have more recently spread to downtown.

A shortage of available sites for buildings, due in part to government restrictions on development, adds to the market's appeal, Hill said. That makes it hard for developers of new buildings to compete with existing buildings for office tenants.

" Dylan Rivera

[MarkDaMan]

A shortage of available sites for buildings, due in part to government restrictions on development, adds to the market's appeal, Hill said. That makes it hard for developers of new buildings to compete with existing buildings for office tenants.

what does this mean? Are they talking about the UGB?

[Snowden352]

I think the article is referring to the CBD. Looking at it via Google Earth, one can see that most sites are already developed (save a few).

[MarkDaMan]

^that's what I figured, though there is still plenty of surface parking and even several buildings that could be demolished...Plaid Pantry on Jefferson anyone?

I don't consider downtown to be that tight where new developers can't purchase and build...and I really don't see how the city council has imposed any 'government restrictions on development' that would cause hardship to developers.

[MarkDaMan]

Real estate sectors see solid year ahead
by Kennedy Smith
01/09/2007


Commercial real estate professionals should be “cautiously optimistic” about the year to come in all sectors – office, industrial, retail and investment – according to year-end reports from Grubb & Ellis and Colliers International, two commercial real estate firms with branches in Portland.

“We’re going to have another strong year,” said Tom Lawill, head of the Portland branch of Colliers International. “I don’t see anything on the immediate horizon that will affect us negatively.”

Office space

In the central business district, office space is tight, with vacancy rates hovering around 6 percent for Class A space. Both 2005 and 2006 saw demand outpace available space in the CBD, giving landlords the upper hand, with rental rates averaging about $21 per square foot by the end of last year. It should remain a landlord’s market in the immediate future, according to Grubb & Ellis.

“Portland does not have a myriad of huge downtown office tenants, but those that exist are facing a dilemma,” said Patricia Raitch, communications and research director at the Portland office of Grubb & Ellis. “Renewal options are limited because of growth encumbrances, and there are few existing options for relocation.”

The good news is that larger tenants who can’t find what they want may consider new construction this year – even in the central business district. “Those large tenants can wield enough leverage to kick-start a major project and may be able to put their own touches on a new trophy building downtown,” she said. “The question remains who will be the first to secure an anchor tenant and put shovel to ground.”

There are currently three office buildings in development downtown: One Waterfront Place, 100 Columbia, and First and Main. “If a major tenant stepped up and began negotiating for a pre-lease, they could have a say in some of the design aspects of the property,” Raitch explained.

Another project in the Pearl District at Northwest Ninth Avenue and Lovejoy Street will offer about 70,000 square feet of retail space when the mixed-use project is completed later this year.

If all else fails, there’s always Kruse Way. Like it has been for the last few years, Kruse Way, off of Interstate 5 in Lake Oswego, is the poster child for a strong office rental submarket. Tenants who can’t find space in the CBD “always have opportunities out in the Sunset Corridor,” Colliers’ Lawill said. “The Tigard Triangle (near Interstate 5 from the southbound Haines Road exit) is as good as ever also; it still has drawing power.”

Ross Moore, senior vice president and director of market and economic research for Colliers, predicts office rents will increase anywhere from 12 percent to 15 percent in 2007 due to spikes in additional expenses such as insurance, maintenance and property taxes.

Industrial

“There are a few yellow lights on the horizon” for industrial space, Raitch said.

The housing market, which is finally slowing from a boom in the last couple of years, could spell trouble for industrial investors, especially as marble and tile companies, countertop distributors, window manufacturers and other home product makers abandon some space.

Best bets for 2007, she said, are Airport Way and the Northeast Columbia Corridor, which should both enjoy higher rental rates and low vacancy rates in the year to come.

Retail

The slowing housing market will also affect retailers in 2007 as consumer spending growth moderates. The International Council of Shopping Centers last week reported combined November and December same-store sales at U.S. chain stores rose 2.8 percent, which trailed last year’s 3.6 percent gain.

However, wage gains and new jobs should somewhat neutralize this, Colliers’ Moore said. The state’s unemployment rate stands at 5.3 percent, down from 5.8 percent a year ago, according to the Oregon Employment Department. Nationwide, unemployment over the last year has dropped from 5 percent to 4.5 percent.

Lifestyle retailers will likely bear the brunt of the slowdown in spending, he said, but not enough to cause any tenant closures.

“The biggest success stories in the coming year are bound to be high-end retailers and those with strong brand image, as well as apparel retailers, who should have a solid year,” he said. “Overall, owners of retail real estate can expect another solid year, similar to 2006.”

Investments

It was an interesting year for investments in the Portland area in 2006, with major properties like the U.S. Bancorp Tower, One Main Place and Columbia Business Center changing ownership. Investors will keep their eye on the area in 2007, Raitch said.

“Overpricing in tier-one markets continues to push investors to review offerings in second-tier markets, benefiting sellers in Portland,” she said.

Both Grubb & Ellis and Colliers see green building as a major staple in the real estate industry in years to come. They predict that new office development will be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

Eyeing Vancouver

With a tight CBD and increased rents in the industrial sector in the Portland area, tenants may start eyeing Vancouver as a viable option.

In fact, Lawill said, “there’s more of a psychological drive to be either on the east side or west side of the Willamette River than there is to relocate to Vancouver,” meaning there’s less of a stigma for Portland companies to move to Washington than there is for a company to consider relocating from the eastside to the westside.

“Vancouver is phenomenal,” Lawill said. “There’s a good market and strong demand, and with 70,000 cars a day that come and go across the river the psychological reasons for relocating to Vancouver are quickly disappearing.”

http://www.djc-or.com/viewStory.cfm?recid=28685&userID=1

[pdxman]

I thought this was going to be scrapped after the announcement of the moyer tower but it looks as though its on its way to being built. Lets hope it stays that way :yes:

Planned bike hub is a tip of the helmet to commuters
A 16-story office tower to be built downtown will offer cycle storage, showers and lockers

Friday, February 16, 2007
FRED LEESON
This could take some of the sweat out of Portland's growing peloton of bicycling commuters:

A new downtown office building to rise on a surface parking lot at Southwest First Avenue and Main Street is the first to feature a "bicycle hub," offering 933 square feet of indoor storage for 34 bikes, showers and lockers.

The 16-story tower, being developed by Equity Office Properties Trust, based in Chicago, and Gerding/Edlen of Portland, will offer the perks to earn a square footage bonus allowed by downtown development regulations.

Bike riders may work in the new building or other downtown locations, according to the tentative plan. It would be the first office tower greeting riders as they enter Portland off the Hawthorne Bridge, which during summer peaks carries 5,500 daily bike trips.

But the cyclists' bennies will not be free. "As I understand it, these operate for a fee," said Richard Dobrot, one of the building's architects.

Roger Geller, bicycle coordinator for the Portland Office of Transportation, said the new building would be the first here offering bike amenities to its own tenants as well as employees in other buildings. He said some large employers provide secure parking and showers for their own employees.

In addition, Bike Central, a Portland cooperative, offers secure parking and showers at two Portland private athletic clubs.

The developers have yet to hire an operator to run the bike hub. Bike repair and sales of bicycle-related gear could become part of the setup, too.

Portland's downtown development regulations offer bonuses for desired uses in various locations, including housing, rooftop gardens, retail space, decorative fountains and public art.

The new tower, which the Portland Design Commission approved Thursday, takes advantage of a "locker room bonus option" to encourage bicycling. The rules allow an extra 40 square feet of building space for each square foot devoted to the locker bonus.

In this case, the bonus amounts to 37,320 square feet, or nearly an entire floor on a downtown-sized block.

Of course, the bike is not yet king. Three basement levels in the tower will hold 294 parking stalls.

Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@news.oregonian.com

[Dougall5505]

great news i wonder how far off we are from this starting

[MarkDaMan]

The new tower, which the Portland Design Commission approved Thursday

seems like it could start soon, I think the PDC might have been negotiating the MultCo courthouse issues (the tunnel idea to the Justice Center) so possibly the PDC threw in the money MultCo didn't have to make it a reality? Pure speculation on that front though!

[pdxstreetcar]

There's a small article in the Oregonian today that the construction loans have been arranged and that construction will begin soon on the ZGF Tower.

[nehalem5]

I'm not sure these updated renderings of first and main have been posted yet. They were given to me by a friend who works at GBD.
I have been reading this site for a while...decided to join the fray :cheers:



http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/392650478_46f8b1658f.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/392650471_248f3543b2.jpg?v=0

[der Reisender]

Welcome to fray! and thanks for a nice first post...the renderings look nice. i particularly like the blue glass set next to the white

[65MAX]

Welcome Nehalem5!
That rendering looks so much better than the rendering they posted at the site. It looks like the entire exterior was completely redesigned. I'm so glad they put the extra effort into this. :tup:

[pdxman]

Wow! Those renderings look a million times better than the previous...and welcome to thunderdome nehalem5 :)

[Drmyeyes]

From the article above: Planned bike hub is a tip of the helmet to commuters

"...offering 933 square feet of indoor storage for 34 bikes, showers and lockers."... and ..."The rules allow an extra 40 square feet of building space for each square foot devoted to the locker bonus.

In this case, the bonus amounts to 37,320 square feet, or nearly an entire floor on a downtown-sized block."

More than a thousand square feet of extra building space for each bike. That's quite an incentive. Wonder how that pencils out. The idea of providing facilities for cyclists is a great idea. For 150 cyclists would be even better.

[sirsimon]

Nehalem5: Welcome to our happy family!

I, too, find these latest renderings much more pleasing than what we were originally presented with. Glad to hear this is still a "go"! :)

[Urbanpdx]

I had a friend who worked in that parking garage across the street to the south from this property. Women would go to the top floor and flash their guys in the jail building across the stree to the West. I wonder how the views into the jail will be for the offices that face west.

[NJD]

Does anyone know the ground floor use of this building? The area, with all of the government buildings, has little to no retail or pedestrian friendly uses. This area really bugs me with the auditorium district's no street parking and blank wall unfriendlyness right next to the gorvernment quarter's barricade and institutional coldness there really is not a lot of street activity...

I also am excited about this building now that a more detailed render has come about. It doesn't seam as bulky and out-of-place in its surroundings.

[65MAX]

I would guess that there will be much more ground floor retail here than the surrounding gov't buildings, most likely lunch spots.

[zilfondel]

^that's what I figured, though there is still plenty of surface parking and even several buildings that could be demolished...Plaid Pantry on Jefferson anyone?

I don't consider downtown to be that tight where new developers can't purchase and build...and I really don't see how the city council has imposed any 'government restrictions on development' that would cause hardship to developers.

6:1 and 9:1 FAR limits??? :yuck:

[zilfondel]

This "bicycle hub" will only have space for 34 bicycles?! Give me a freaking break. We need something like this:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/61025453_a49ba3c0ea.jpg?v=0
Taken from flikr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/freddy/61025453/)
Amsterdam's 3-story bicycle garage at the centraal station - parking for 2,500 bikes. Portland currently has thousands of daily bicycle commuters to downtown.

[pdxstreetcar]

most of the new condo buildings in Portland have more space for bikes than 34

i too like the new design for first & main much more than the original one

all the new buildings in downtown are required to have ground floor retail, the federal courthouse gots away without it because its federal and they make their own rules. although its too bad KPF didnt design it in, maybe the feds have a rule against it for security reasons.

[zilfondel]

I don't quite agree with the appropriateness of ground-floor retail in that type of a building... there are definitely situations where commercial space is not congruent with the other uses in the building. Just because mixed-use is all the rage nowadays doesn't mean everything should be that way.

I mean, what if there was a porn shop, strip club and lingerie modeling studio at the ground floor of the courthouse? What would that say about our civil servants and public life in this country?

Sometimes a wall is a powerful statement, and should be respected.

[nehalem5]

[QUOTE=zilfondel;2640436]This "bicycle hub" will only have space for 34 bicycles?! Give me a freaking break. We need something like this:

Exactly, I lived in Leiden (45min south of Amsterdam) for a year and would ride to the train station to go to Amsterdam, leave my dutch cruiser bike among the thousands of other identical bikes...come back drunk and somehow always find my bike. a miracle everytime. I'll scan a picture or two.
most people in holland dont ride gucci bikes to work, unlike here, so secured indoor storage for lots and lots of bikes could encourage more bike commuting to downtown portland. that and free leg massages.

[mcbaby]

i take it that the new building at first and main will be the new multnomah county courthouse.

[nehalem5]

Sometimes a wall is a powerful statement, and should be respected.[Zilfondel]


I do agree with you to a point, however...the nytimes had an interesting article relating to the base of the proposed freedom tower

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/arts/design/19towe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[tworivers]

Zilfondel, wouldn't a porn shop, check cashing joint, and Mcdonalds be the perfect statement?

At first when I read your "wall" statement, I thought it might be the punchline to another sarcastic post, but I don't think you were speaking metaphorically about our Orwellian version of democracy after all. Oh well.

[zilfondel]

Zilfondel, wouldn't a porn shop, check cashing joint, and Mcdonalds be the perfect statement?

At first when I read your "wall" statement, I thought it might be the punchline to another sarcastic post, but I don't think you were speaking metaphorically about our Orwellian version of democracy after all. Oh well.

You know, ordinarily I would be joking about that kind of thing, but in this case... since these buildings will likely be around for a couple of hundred years at least, I believe that a clarity of purpose and reason expressed in their singular function is much more appropriate for a 'government quarter' (or even one of the courthouses) rather than mixing uses with commercialism.

One of the things that I believe modern society is too hung up on is all the fads, advertising & marketing, and consumerism. While a stone wall fronting a sidewalk ain't exactly friendly, it can hold its own as far as respect is concerned (as long as it isn't a CMU wall) - something that no retail would ever convey. And as cheesy today as talking about The Nation might seem due to the cynicism with our government, turning a cornerstone institution into a architectural one-liner bit of sarcasm would be flat-out pathetic for our city's image.

Besides, there's a shit-ton of ground floor retail in Portland; I hardly think it's the end of the world if 5 or 6 blocks didn't have any.

One of the best non-residential towers in our city:
http://www.urbanphotos.net/images/Portland2/images/Hatfield_Federal_courthouse02.jpg

I'm not so hot on this one:
http://www.urbanphotos.net/images/Portland2/images/Justice_Center.jpg

[zilfondel]

And nehalem, I completely agree. Excerpt from nytimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/arts/design/19towe.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) article:

Nowhere is that failure of ambition more evident than in the tower’s base. In a society where the social contract that binds us together is fraying, the most incisive architects have found ways to create a more fluid relationship between private and public realms. The lobby of Thom Mayne’s Phare Tower in Paris, for example, is conceived as an extension of the public realm, drawing in the surrounding streetscape and tunneling deep into the ground to connect to a network of underground trains.

By comparison the Freedom Tower is conceived as a barricaded fortress. Its base, a 20-story-high windowless concrete bunker that houses the lobby as well as many of the structure’s mechanical systems, is clad in laminated glass panels to give it visual allure, but the message is the same. It speaks less of resilience and tolerance than of paranoia. It’s a building armored against an outside world that we no longer trust.

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9208/19toweca1600rh4.jpg


Just to be fair, however, while glass is traditionally considered a material that creates "transparency," this is usually not the case. In contrast, glass usually acts as a mirror, creating a hard-edged reflective surface, only admitting views into building at nighttime when the lights are brighter inside than out (basic principle of optics). While some glass in Vancouver is indeed transparent, neither do they meet the stringent energy codes we have in Portland.

In other words, both a stone and glass wall can be used to create a hard, unfriendly, bunker-like wall surface - it's up to the architect to imbue feelings such as openness and transparency into the design.

A good use of glass for transparency:
http://www.apple-sauce.com/blogger/uploaded_images/mainimage-744820.jpg

[pdxman]

Does anyone know when the design review is supposed to go through for the 10th & Yamhill smart park site? Wasn't it to be around the beginning of march-now?

[MarkDaMan]

^From my understanding, final submissions were due March 1.

[Dougall5505]

heres the schedule for that building from pdc.us were going to see the renders in 20 days!
Written Proposals due
Mar 1 , 2007, 4 PM
Notice of Responsive Proposals
Mar 15 , 2007
Evaluation of Responsive Proposals
Mar 15 - Apr 12, 2007
Public Presentation and Comment Opportunity
Mar 26-30, 2007
Evaluation Committee Final Recommendation
Apr 12, 2007
PDC Board Action on PDC Executive Director and CAO Recommendation
Apr 25, 2007
Action on CAO Developer Selection Recommendation by City Council
May 2, 2007

[pdxman]

Someone should start a countdown thread for the announcement on the 10th & yamhill proposal. Ya know, that way it gives us something to look forward to :)

[zilfondel]

Anyone know which architectural firms are submitting/submitted proposals?

[pdxman]

I couldn't find the original thread on the 10th and Yamhill garage proposal so i'll just post here. In the paper today there was an announcement for a public open house this thursday by the pdc for the proposals that have been submitted for the current smart park site. So, this thursday the 22nd from 5:30-8:30 in the city hall council chambers. I'm gonna try to go but hopefully someone else from the forum can go...maybe our master photographer dougall??? :)

[Dougall5505]

ill check my schedule lol

[asher519]

Office condo developments make their way to suburbs
National trend has been slow to catch on in Portland-area
Portland Business Journal - March 23, 2007
by Wendy Culverwell, Business Journal staff writer

Developers are betting that suburban business owners will see the merit of owning their offices instead of leasing them.

Commercial condominiums have gained a following in many markets, but not Portland, where few units have moved in the two or so years since they were first presented in downtown.

Two veteran developers -- one local and one from California -- are heading to the suburbs in search of established, small to midsize firms interested in owning their own offices. Separately, the two have plans to construct condominium-style business complexes in Beaverton, Hillsboro and West Linn.

Edge Development, traditionally a luxury home builder in Portland, is building Millikan Pointe, a 12-building project that will offer fee-simple ownership of office buildings of about 2,500 square feet apiece. Edge breaks ground next week at the site, a 9-acre wedge bordered by Southwest Murray Boulevard and Millikan Way.

The project will be a hybrid between individual ownership and condominium. Buyers will own their buildings and land, but share possession of the common parking lot and landscaping.

The other developer is a newcomer to Oregon. Venture Corp., based in Larkspur, Calif., breaks ground next week in West Linn's Willamette district, where it is replacing the former Thriftway complex with 35,000 square feet of retail and 35,000 square feet of office.

The offices will be available for sale in units of around 1,000 square feet, said Todd Berryhill, vice president for development.

The company expects to sell office space to dentists and physicians who lease clinics in the area, said Berryhill, who is a University of Oregon graduate.

Venture has nearly three dozen commercial condominium projects under construction in five Western states, including two in Oregon. The other will be built in Hillsboro on a site in the Tanasbourne area. The company will submit applications to the city next week and break ground as soon as it receives permits, Berryhill said.

The first phase will consist of 75,000 square feet, with office space being sold in 1,000- to 2,000-square-foot units. With offices priced at $275 a square foot, the project is being cast as a reasonable alternative to leasing.

Berryhill, along with Edge Development's Scott Elliott, believe Portland is ready for suburban office condominiums, though both shy away from using the word "condominium" because it sounds too residential.

Elliott and his partner, Grove Hunt, are betting that established small to midsize businesses -- doctors, insurance agents, the odd industry association -- will like the location and the opportunity to convert rent payments into assets.

"People paying rent for years are ready to buy," he said.

Elliott said Edge is targeting smaller businesses for the obvious reason that "the economic makeup of Portland is small to medium business."

Venture has a longer track record with commercial condominiums.

Interestingly enough, it began building for-sale office parks in Silicon Valley shortly after the tech bust, which left it holding the largest business complex in the area. No one wanted to lease space, but the company got plenty of calls from small business owners asking if it could build a 2,000-square-foot building.

The answer was initially no, until Venture decided to build large buildings, broken into small for-sale units, complete with fire walls and individual entrances.

It built its first commercial condominium in Silicon Valley in a market with 70 million square feet of empty office space. Its bankers laughed.

"It wasn't the first lender who lent us money," Berryhill said, dryly.

The project got built. It sold out, and Venture retooled its business to concentrate on similar projects.

The key, according to Berryhill, is to strike a balance between the need to build large structures against buyer demand for individualized entrances. To do that, Venture depends on creative architects who add custom details to each office front -- one entrance may be set back while the neighboring door is set forward.

Of course, the real challenge is to find buyers.

Portland has flirted with commercial condominiums for at least two years. Despite strong interest -- and low interest rates -- few if any commercial condominiums have sold in downtown for a multitude of reasons, including price and concern among would-be buyers that they might outgrow the space.

To market the Beaverton property, Edge Development has enlisted Greg Burpee, a broker with Macadam Forbes, a real estate services firm. The project includes some retail space, which will be leased by New and Neville Real Estate Services.

Venture has signed up with Grubb and Ellis Inc., and has plans to pound the pavement.

Berryhill will go after chamber of commerce members. The marketing tool kit includes construction site dinners and a straightforward appeal to the bottom line: 10 years from now, do you want to have paid $1 million in rent, or own a $1 million asset?

"Any small-businessman who understands a financial spreadsheet understands it makes sense to own the office in the long run," Berryhill said.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415

[MarkDaMan]

Portland office outlook: mixed and confused
Portland Business Journal - May 4, 2007
by Wendy Culverwell

Making sense of Portland's office market performance in the first part of 2007 wasn't a task for the faint of heart.

While rents rose, more office space came on the market than was leased, or absorbed. It was the first quarter of negative absorption in recent years and could be a potentially chilling sign of things to come.

On the other hand, more than 4 million square feet of office space changed owners, and developers indicated they're preparing to construct new office buildings.

Kruse Way, the submarket darling of the local economy, posted its first significant losses in recent memory. One culprit is the slowing residential real estate market and the crisis in the subprime lending area, which together have caused several financial services firms to give up space.

According to Colliers International, the vacancy rate for the submarket including Kruse Way rose seven-tenths of a point to 13 percent, with more than 928,000 square feet available for either direct lease or sublease.

A new landlord in town, however, isn't pouting over one quarter's worth of Kruse Way data.

Shorenstein Properties acquired the former Portland assets of Equity Office Properties Trust from Blackstone Group in a deal finalized last month.

Shorenstein officials say they remain bullish on Portland and plan to construct one or even two office buildings on the last two buildable properties the company owns on Kruse Way -- Kruse Oaks III and IV.

Still, the overall office market picture was unquestionably gray in the first three months of the year.

No matter who crunches the numbers, Portland entered negative absorption territory in the first quarter. Seattle also saw more office space become vacant, though at much lower levels than Portland.

Locally, the slowdown is alternately blamed on cautious business owners and on the two-part Equity-Blackstone-Shorenstein sale, which triggered a quiet period when leases were reportedly difficult to execute.

Whatever the reason, it was the first time more office space went dark than light since before 2004.

Gordon King, senior vice president at Colliers International in Portland, attributes the slowdown to the national economy and weaker job growth in Oregon. After several years of 3 percent annual job creation, the state has revised its expectations to below 1.5 percent.

King said businesses are answering by adopting a conservative stance when it comes to office space -- choosing less expensive space or even subletting out parts of their offices.

"Markets do respond to high and low rental rates," he said.

Brad Christiansen, associate vice president at Colliers, said decision-makers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude. He's working with a number of clients looking to reduce rent expenses, including one in downtown that plans to leave $25-a-square-foot Class A space for Class B offices priced at $18 a square foot.

Grubb & Ellis, which confirmed the negative absorption figures, characterizes the first quarter as a "breather."

"We had a little blip," said Dave Squire, managing director for Grubb & Ellis.

But for every anecdote about a business moving from Class A to Class B space, Scott Madsen, a principal with the boutique firm Capacity Commercial Group, said there are more firms making the opposite move. The first quarter is always slow, he added.

The real story, brokers agreed, is the lack of any new buildings set to open in the immediate future. Shorenstein intends to build at Southwest First Avenue and Main Street in downtown and TMT Development plans to build at the Zell Block, so named because of its resident Zell Bros. store on Southwest Morrison Street and Park Avenue. No project has broken ground.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/05/07/story5.html?t=printable

[BrG]

Cool rendering. I hope the bridge remains in the plans if this building goes up.

http://www.onewaterfrontplace.com/images/ped_bridge.jpg


Wow.. haven't seen this in awhile. A bit of history. (Sorry to post this so late in this threads life, but anyway...)

The bridge was separate peice of the project, intended to be constructed at a different time. It was actually designed affter the building was. keep in mind the client would be multiheaded (City/Union Pacific/ Winkler/ Naito/ PDC) and getttign it biult would require considerable cooperation.

OWP could see significant revisions if it ever comes to pass. It was designed at the top of the tech boom, replete with selling points like raised floors and a host of other LEED goodies. Double skins were looked at, but it was too expensive (1-2 million extra, just for partial facades), so the 6 glass-type mosaic pattern inset into 8 inch deep mullions, was considered as a cheaper design alternative.

It also had expansive northerly and westerly views and was the tallest thing around the river district at the time. Now, with all the delay, eveything else has come up around it and, the views are not as great. It was also trying to hit a marketplace that could withstand A+ office rents. It was expensive to construct in those times, and costs for construction have done nothing but go sky high, in the 7 years since I was a part of designing it. Since then, many things have changed, but what really killed it then, was the events of 2K1. The dot-bomb, and 9/11.

Lastly, the parking:

Jim's plan was to try to offer a suburban office parking ratio, to offset the fact that it was a little bit marooned from the Pearl at the time. The train really cuts off that area, and it's not particularly pedestrian freindly althoough much has been done to remedy that in the 7 years since the project was conceived. So, anyway the 700 car garage was designed as a selling point to potential tenants, in addition to help offset the lost parkign at Albers Mill when the Willammette Greenway was to be expanded into the parking lot across the street, along the river.

A difficult design, to located it under the bridge. He also wanted it to be as green as humanly possible. Lots of trellises, and so on.

I'm speculating from the outside of it's process now, but I would expect Winkler and Naito to re-think the project before proceeding.

Also the lead designer of OWP no longer works for Boora. Nor do most of the project team. One person stil ldoe, I think and she's great. She could likely get it done wit hone hand behind her back, but she's likely long since moved on to other things.

I'd love nothing more for the project to get built as designed. It still will be really nice... if so.

But, I am not holding my breath.

[MarkDaMan]

^thanks for the update on that. Disappointing, but interesting.

Is the partnership for this project with the same side of the Naito family that is working with Beam on the OTCT several block redevelopment? Their priorities might have shifted too.

[tworivers]

The first thing I thought this morning when I read the article Mark posted was, "crap, now there's even less of a chance One Waterfront Place will get built". It's frustrating to see another beautifully designed building not get built here, and I hate to think of the box at 1st and Main gobbling up more of the office market.

Many thanks for the inside story, BrG.

[MarkDaMan]

The first thing I thought this morning when I read the article Mark posted was, "crap, now there's even less of a chance One Waterfront Place will get built".

The thing I found interesting about the article I posted this morning was that it didn't mention the CBD. It talked about a slowing down of growth in the sub-market, and Kruse Way. There was also a mention about a company moving from class A space to class B, but it didn't give downtown vacancy rates.

Another interesting point. From my understanding class B space is the harder space to rent downtown and usually shows a higher vacancy, while class A space is in high demand and is usually statistically full. I wonder why the story didn't give even a little hint of downtown vacancy? Anyone have those numbers?

[Dougall5505]

its interesting that the website is still up: http://www.onewaterfrontplace.com/

[pdxman]

When's the last time a big company moved here or started up here and boomed? It feels like its been a while...It seems like the job market in oregon is starting to weaken(not that it was ever that strong).

[BrG]

^thanks for the update on that. Disappointing, but interesting.

Is the partnership for this project with the same side of the Naito family that is working with Beam on the OTCT several block redevelopment? Their priorities might have shifted too.


Sure. Happy to.

Man there are a LOT of sausage fingered mispellings in that post of mine. :yuck: :D :koko:

RE: Naito.... Pretty sure, Yes. Bob/ Lisa, not Sam/Verne, IIRC.

IF the right tenant came along and signed up for OWP as /is, I see no reason why they couldn't be a part of both at once (Chinatown and OWP). Who knows the ownership makeup of OWP now, though. The site sign is still there, last time I drove by. I guess it would be easy to tell, by seeing if NBS is still trying to lasso a tenant.

[MarkDaMan]

Class B makes its return
Commercial tenants that flew to quality now 'fly to economics'
Portland Business Journal - August 31, 2007
by Wendy Culverwell
Business Journal staff writer

Just two years ago, recruiting tenants to Montgomery Park was a challenge. The massive building in Northwest Portland is at the edge of downtown and was about 30 percent empty. Tenants were enticed to nicer space in Class A buildings by stagnating rents.

Today, the 750,000-square foot office complex in Northwest Portland is essentially full with a 98 percent occupancy rate. Brokers say they regularly field inquiries from prospective tenants but have to turn them away.

The tide has changed not just for Montgomery Park but for most of its Class B brethren.

With little space available in the Class A market and rents rising, tenants that just a few years ago sought out A spaces are increasingly turning to Class B.

"With Class As pushing their rates and the decrease in availability, it's a good time to be the owner of Class B buildings," said CB Richard Ellis broker Trevor Kafoury, who represents both Montgomery Park and Albers Mill, on Northwest Naito Parkway.

Montgomery Park has been full for almost a year and Albers Mill has just one space, about 5,000 square feet, left for rent. Both buildings are owned by Bill Naito Co.

Loosely defined, Class B offices are older, well-maintained buildings with smaller floors, lower rents and fewer amenities than the newest buildings. If Fox Tower is king of Portland's Class As, then Montgomery Park, both because of and despite its massive floors, is king of the Bs.

Class B has dominated leasing activity since the start of the year, according to research by Colliers International and generally confirmed by rivals Grubb & Ellis and NAI Norris Beggs & Simpson.

For the first six months of the year, the Portland office market absorbed more than 726,000 square feet of Class B office space, the vast majority of it in the second quarter alone. In the same period, the Class A needle scarcely moved, with fewer than 15,000 square feet coming off the market.

Class B continues to have the highest vacancy rates in the market, at 12.4 percent, but it also posted the greatest rent increases, about 8.6 percent.

It's a stark change.

As recently as two years ago, rent in Class A buildings was stagnant and even tenants on limited budgets could afford first-class digs. The moving-up phenomenon even had its own term: flight to quality.

It was easy to see why. Six years ago, some Class B offices were leasing for $20 or even $21 a square foot, comparable to asking rents for Class A space.

But now the Class A spaces are nearly full and large tenants have few choices when it comes to finding a full floor or even two adjacent floors in a single building. Rents may climb as much as 8 percent this year.

Today, Class A offices that previously rented in the low $20s now command rents in the high $20s, if not more.

For tenants who signed leases four or five years ago, that means the rent bill will climb significantly if they renew and stay put, explained Eric Haskins, an office broker and vice president with Grubb & Ellis. For many, that's not an option.

"They're faced with a flight to economics," he said.

This year, he said, he hasn't seen any one signature Class B deals, just a bunch of 5,000- to 20,000-square-foot deals. But last year, he helped a client, Web MD, move customer support operations to Montgomery Park, from the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood.

The growing business was up against the limits of most Class B buildings, he explained. In Old Town/Chinatown, they were spread across several floors.

The company wanted the efficiency that comes with consolidating in a single space and looked across several classes before settling on Montgomery Park.

But that's unusual.

Most B buildings have floors of 10,000 square feet or smaller. For a growing office with concerns about being spread out on several floors or even several buildings, Class B can pose a challenge.

Then too, so can Class A.

"There aren't too many good places to choose from," Haskins said. "That forces people to look at both A and B."

Mark Fraser, senior vice president with GVA Kidder Mathews, has seen B buildings fill up. The Mohawk Building, at Southwest Third and Morrison, is a perfect example; Interface Engineering recently signed a 28,000 lease to stay in place and expand. The company liked the building and the way it's managed. More telling, when Fletcher Farr Ayotte Architecture moved out of the Mohawk Building, its old space didn't stay empty long. Two prospective tenants competed for the space.

Fraser said the Class B trend is especially noticeable with local firms.

"If you are a national or international company and you're comparing rent to Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York, it's not a big deal to pay Class A. But if you're a local company and you're spending your own money, that rent differential is big," he said.

The strength of the market is prompting building owners to invest in updating older buildings as well.

For example, Haskins represents the office space at 620 S.W. Fifth Ave., which is above the downtown Ross Dress for Less store. The current owner paid $11.35 million for the building last fall. In addition to two floors of retail, it has 104,000 square feet of office space.

The owners plans to renovate the exterior facade in keeping with other neighborhood improvements, including the revamping of the nearby Macy's store, Haskins said.

"You improve the building today to enable yourself to get a higher rent category," Haskins said.

Kafoury, of CB Richard Ellis, agreed it's a good time for owners to consider reinvesting in older buildings.

"There's still competition in that Class B market in downtown. The owners who are investing money are going to be the first in line," he said.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/09/03/focus1.html?t=printable

[scleeb]

For example, Haskins represents the office space at 620 S.W. Fifth Ave., which is above the downtown Ross Dress for Less store. The current owner paid $11.35 million for the building last fall. In addition to two floors of retail, it has 104,000 square feet of office space.

The owners plans to renovate the exterior facade in keeping with other neighborhood improvements, including the revamping of the nearby Macy's store, Haskins said.

That's huge. The 620 Building is in dire need of a facade upgrade. I consider the ROSS Store the greatest eyesore in downtown Portland.

[pdx2m2]

actually waterfront place is moving ahead with winkler, naito, and boora.

the project team is looking at the original design and evaluting whether what changes make sense given a new building code, new LEED standards , new construction costs, technologies etc.

there will be a pedestrian bridge and some significant FAR bonus earnings including the potential for significant public art..which was part of the original design.

the project will end up more sustainable than it was moving from LEED gold to LEED platnium,....in the end i think the project will retain it's high performance and its beauty...

a pre application conference is coming up in september with design review several months out.

[tworivers]

^^^ You just made my day.

[zilfondel]

I'm amazed that redevelopment is picking up, not slowing down. I feel fortunate...

[CouvScott]

actually waterfront place is moving ahead with winkler, naito, and boora.

the project team is looking at the original design and evaluting whether what changes make sense given a new building code, new LEED standards , new construction costs, technologies etc.

there will be a pedestrian bridge and some significant FAR bonus earnings including the potential for significant public art..which was part of the original design.

the project will end up more sustainable than it was moving from LEED gold to LEED platnium,....in the end i think the project will retain it's high performance and its beauty...

a pre application conference is coming up in september with design review several months out.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/couvttocs/pearlofficebldg.jpg

[Dougall5505]

is the parking garage still part of the plan?

[pdxman]

^^^Yes, at least it was still in the review/pre-app

[pdx2m2]

the project scope is very similar to the original one waterfront place...office building, 145' tall, 4 level parking garage between 500 and 700 cars, new pedestrian bridge to NW Marshall....

[MarkDaMan]

Portland architectural landmark sells to Unico for $28 million
The Belluschi-designed Commonwealth Building is home to a host of the city's design firms
POSTED: 06:00 AM PDT Thursday, October 4, 2007
BY ALISON RYAN
Daily Journal of Commerce

One of Portland’s architectural landmarks has been sold to Unico Properties for $27.7 million.

The Pietro Belluschi-designed Commonwealth Building since 1993 had been owned by Joe Weston, who purchased the building at auction for $1.9 million.

In July, Weston donated the building to his public charity, which supports the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF). At that time, OCF President Greg Challie said the foundation would hold onto the property, valued at $30 million, as an asset.

The board of directors of Weston’s foundation made the decision to sell, said Nancy A. Wilson, vice president for fund services of the OCF. Proceeds from the building sale and the foundation’s other assets will generate about $2.5 million in 2008.

Sale of the building to Seattle-based Unico Properties and its investment partner Cigna Realty Investors closed Friday. Unico manages Portland’s Lincoln Building and the U.S. Bancorp Tower. The company is also building a two-block project – which will include a 16-story apartment tower, offices and a Safeway store – between 12th and 14th avenues and Marshall and Lovejoy streets in the Pearl District.

The Commonwealth Building is only 30 percent leased. But having so much contiguous space to offer is a benefit, said Brian Pearce, Unico’s general manager for its Portland portfolio, as companies make finding more room a priority.

“What I’m finding is if you’re a tenant over 10,000 square feet, you’re looking at a wide spectrum of (building) types,” Pearce said. “If you’re a big tenant, you have to look at everything.”

The 15-story, 208,000-square foot Commonwealth Building occupies a half block on Southwest Sixth Avenue between Stark and Washington streets.

The building, originally known as the Equitable Building, was built for Equitable Savings and Loan in 1948 and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.

Renovations started by Weston’s American Property Management, including overhauls of the elevator lobbies on each floor, will continue under the new ownership with an immediate $6 million building renovation.

One of the first glass box towers ever built – and the first to use modern features like double-paned glass and aluminum cladding – the building is one of Portland’s most architecturally noted by designers. Architectural firms have taken note, with firms such as Sienna Architecture, Colab Architecture + Urban Design, and DLR Group occupying space in the historic building.

Colab is new to the building, said principal Mark Engberg, only inking its five-year lease in March. Tenants were notified of the potential sale about a week and a half ago, he said, and got notice on Monday that the sale had closed on Friday.

The decision to move from Southwest Fifth Avenue was made in part because Colab needed expansion room, Engberg said, and in part because of the great, light-filled space they snagged. But there was also, he said, the building’s reputation to consider.

“It’s certainly the most famous architectural building in Portland,” he said, “in architecture circles anyway.”
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2007/10/04/Portland-architectural-landmark-sells-to-Unico-for-28-million-The-Belluschidesigned-Commonwealth-Bui