There was a rendering on the front page of the Metro or Biz section in this morning's big O. It is a pretty interesting building kinda wrapping around the flight tower. It is meant to look like a ships hull...
Port moves forward on $247M HQ at PDX
Daily Journal of Commerce
by Kennedy Smith
04/12/2007
The Port of Portland on Wednesday voted unanimously to proceed with final design work on a new parking structure and port headquarters to be built at Portland International Airport that could cost as much $247 million.
The development would add 3,000 long-term parking stalls, 500 rental car spaces and 194,000 square feet of office space for staff now housed at the port’s headquarters, built for $20 million in 1999, in Old Town/Chinatown.
Port executive director Bill Wyatt said selling the Old Town building would free up cash flow. The building was assessed last year at nearly $22 million, according to portlandmaps.com, and the port estimates it would be worth $25 million upon sale.
“I’d rather have the resources that are tied up in this building available to the general fund,” he told the board. “This is one of the most liquid assets we have.”
Wyatt said constructing the building in the late ’90s was the right decision, calling it a “great investment,” but, he said, now that new development is popping up in the area – such as the University of Oregon taking over the White Stag building and Beam Development and Bill Naito Co. partnering to redevelop several blocks – the time is right to sell the headquarters and consolidate at the airport.
“It’s always a good market to sell when there is a rising type (office space), and we’re in that market right now, where the cost to construct is driving rents over $30 per square foot,” Mike Thomas, a vice president at the Portland office of commercial real estate firm Colliers International, said. “This is a great move on their part. When they move, the building could compete with any of the new buildings planned for construction in that area at much more competitive prices.”
Money is one of the primary reasons for moving the headquarters to Portland International Airport, with potential for a 3 percent to 4 percent operating cost savings, Wyatt said, or about $3 million to $4 million per year.
The cost estimate for the parking garage, pedestrian tunnels and moving sidewalks is almost $123 million.
The additional cost for the headquarters offices to be built on the eighth, ninth and 10th floors would be $71.4 million. Those offices would include sustainable features designed by architectural firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca.
Port labor, moving-related costs and inspections for the combined project would cost another $36.6 million, according to Steve Schreiber, director of operations services and chief financial officer for the port.
That totals $231 million, and another $16 million would be needed for the realignment of Airport Way.
Combining these cost estimates and long-term operational and financial benefits, the port determined the parking and headquarters building would net $18.2 million over 20 years.
About $133 million of the money needed to complete the project would come from a combination of working capital generated by parking and car rentals, Schreiber said, along with airport revenue bonds. The port said it would not use tax revenue to pay for the project.
After contract negotiations begin in the coming months, Schreiber said, construction should begin in late summer. A portion of the parking garage would open in early 2008; the garage would be fully operational by summer of 2008. The headquarters would be completed in the spring of 2010.
Portland International Airport went through a series of expansions beginning in the late ’90s and into 2002, Wyatt said, but additional security staff quickly soaked up the extra space.
“It was something we never would have anticipated a decade ago,” he said. “We will look back at this in five, 10, 15 years and ask, ‘Was this the right thing to do?’ I think we’ll agree that it’s a prudent and thoughtful decision.”
Proposed green features
The new parking and headquarters building at Portland International Airport would incorporate sustainable practices, according to architect Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, including a “living machine,” a structure that would treat wastewater and filter it to native landscaping. Current analysis shows the building would attain either a gold or platinum rating through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The development would be built by Hoffman Construction.
Source: Port of Portland
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