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A 90-year-old former school being renovated in Southeast Portland is set to have a new class of tenants by early 2015.

Washington High School is on track to have 80 percent of its office space leased by the end of October, Venerable Properties President Craig Kelly said.

Two anchor tenants are on board already, Kelly said. New Seasons Market has leased 33,500 square feet of office space to hold its corporate headquarters, and Copious 鈥� a digital design agency 鈥� has leased 10,500 square feet.

Three smaller companies 鈥� Walker Tracker, Murmur Creative and Arch Rival 4Ever 鈥� have all signed leases for spaces between 900 and 1,400 square feet, and Kelly said lease agreements with a couple of other small prospective tenants are in the works.

鈥淲e are in negotiations with three medium-sized tenants,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 consider medium-sized to be about 2,000 to 6,000 square feet.鈥�

Venerable Properties has secured lease agreements for about 60 percent of the 83,000 square feet available in the ex-school, Kelly said.

The renovation was scheduled for completion by Nov. 1, but Kelly said the team now is planning to finish by the end of the year.

鈥淭he smaller tenants will move in in January because we’re building a lot of turn-key spaces for them,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he bigger tenants, because their spaces will require more (tenant improvements), will have move-in dates of February or March.鈥�

The $18 million renovation of the building at Southeast Stark Street and 14th Avenue began in October 2013 and includes work on a 500-seat auditorium and a 2,700-square-foot rooftop deck.

The project team has run into a host of challenges, but that’s what makes renovation fun, Kelly said.

鈥淭hat’s the blessing and the curse of renovating historic buildings,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e come across the issues, address them, and move on.鈥�