Lee Fehrenbacher//April 29, 2014//
Following a $1.65 million building acquisition and rehabilitation, a local residential real estate company’s Northeast Portland headquarters has its first retail tenant.
Jenelle Isaacson, the owner of Living Room Realty, and Lance Marrs, one of the company’s principal brokers, in 2012 bought an 88-year-old, 10,900-square-foot building at the corner of Northeast Alberta Street and 14th Avenue for $1 million. They recently signed Bamboo Izakaya – a new concept restaurant by Southeast Portland’s Bamboo Sushi – to a 10-year lease for a 1,900-square-foot space.
R&H Construction completed the renovation in November 2013, effectively transforming a derelict garage into a gleaming white commercial building with four prominent storefront spaces. Living Room Realty is occupying the largest, corner space; two others are still available.
Living Room Realty previously occupied an 816-square-foot office across the street, but outgrew it. Between 2009 and 2012, the company’s total sales volume increased from approximately $14 million to nearly $171 million.
Last fall, Living Room Realty also became the first real estate company on the West Coast to obtain B Corp certification – a designation awarded to companies that include social and environmental sustainability in their bottom lines. Bamboo Sushi also has that certification.
Isaacson, in a prepared statement, said she hoped that the companies’ proximity to each other would help strengthen the B Corp message about businesses’ responsibility to the environment and communities.
Kathleen Healy, a broker at Commercial Realty Advisors NW, brokered the lease with Bamboo Izakaya.