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Portland General Electric is planning to renovate and seismically upgrade a Portland office building so that it can provide customers with better service during emergent situations and employees with an improved work environment.

Phillip Chubb, an associate with FFA Architecture and Interiors, last week applied to the city for a commercial building permit to begin a renovation of PGE‘s 41,000-square-foot office building in Southeast Portland.

鈥淭he building doesn’t need a seismic upgrade according to code standards; this is a voluntary thing,鈥� Chubb said. 鈥淭he work will improve the building’s survivability because it’s important to the company’s overall operability in the event of an emergency.鈥�

The utility company plans to start $9.3 million worth of renovations to its office at 3700 S.E. 17th Ave. in April or May, Chubb said, and hopes to have the work complete and staff moved back in by November 鈥� ahead of winter storms.

鈥淚t’s a good building that requires very little to mitigate its inefficiencies,鈥� Chubb said. 鈥淏ut this is still a pretty aggressive construction schedule.鈥�

In addition to the seismic upgrade, a renovation of the interior will refresh the space for employees, Chubb said.

The office renovation is part of a larger project 鈥� up to $17 million total 鈥� for PGE that includes demolition of at least one building, addition of a canopy structure for utility vehicle storage and expansion of parking areas on the property, Chubb said.

One of the buildings being razed is a three-story brick warehouse; a seismic upgrade was too expensive. Chubb said the building will be replaced by a prefabricated steel structure.