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Owners of Portland’s buildings offering Class A offices are adding value to their properties by making improvements that tenants want and are willing to pay more for. Class A spaces become premium or 鈥渢rophy鈥� buildings when they are upgraded and can charge the top rents in the city, Jones Lang LaSalle‘s Portland office noted in a recent report.

A trophy building, according to the Dictionary of Real Estate Terms, is 鈥渁 landmark property that is well-known by the public and highly sought by institution investors. Generally one-of-a-kind architectural designs, with the highest quality of materials, finish and expensive trim, these properties are more desirable than Class A buildings.鈥�

In Portland, buildings that have gained such improvements are yielding considerably more in rent 鈥� up to 13.9 percent more, said Patricia Raicht of JLL. More details on trophy office rental rates in Portland are available at .

According to JLL, rents for Class A skyline office space average $31.81 per square foot, while so-called trophy buildings average as much as $36.25 per square foot.

A prime example is the U.S. Bancorp Tower, which has shifted from a largely single-tenant corporate headquarters to 鈥渁 bona fide tech hub鈥� following a $15 million investment in lobby improvements and other upgrades. Six other buildings in Portland’s skyline that would be considered trophy buildings include Brewery Block 2, Brewery Block 4, First and Main, Fox Tower, Moda Tower and soon-to-open Park Avenue West, according to Raicht.

鈥淲hat we’re seeing is significant investments in lobbies to upgrade to more modern materials and finishes,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t also might mean creating some outdoor space, rooftop deck or some sort of deck area, and they typically have a list of amenities such as a fitness center, bike parking and showers and a good retail mix.鈥�

New owners of the KOIN Center and One Main Place are in the process of repositioning their properties to bring them back to trophy status, and investors’ appetite for core central business district offices are at an all-time high, said Joe Vaughan, managing director of JLL.

Dave Squire, executive managing director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, agreed that the trend in Portland is to make improvements to get the highest rents possible.

鈥淚t’s a little bit of a perfect storm, and the reason is that (we have) an environment where there has been a tremendous amount of multifamily construction, but a very limited supply as relates to office space,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ake Park Avenue West, which was 80 percent leased before it (construction) was even started.鈥�

Squire said that without a lot of new supply, landlords are finding that if they improve their buildings with 鈥渁menities and benefits and creature comforts,鈥� the market is eager to pay premium rents for them. Those amenities could include bike storage and lockers, Wi-Fi in the lobby, big-screen TVs and casual seating areas.

A decade ago, Squire said, prime tenants for downtown Portland were typically accountants, lawyers and people in financial services, but that’s not where employment growth is at present.

鈥淚t’s more technology driven from the standpoint of industries that are hiring,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s folks writing code or in creative services, and that person might show up for work in jeans and a T-shirt with a nose ring who makes $90,000 a year. It’s not old guys in suits anymore.鈥�

Many of the trophy properties are attracting institutional investors, and interest from foreign investors is on the rise, according to JLL. Of the $35.3 billion transacted over the past five quarters in the United States, 34.6 percent was driven by international buyers. That trend is coming to Portland, predicts a report by JLL, with investors from Chile and Canada competing for deals in the central business district.

One downtown property whose owner, ScanlanKemperBard, hopes to elevate to trophy class is the KOIN Center. The firm is making a significant investment in upgrades, SKB senior vice president Traci Wall said.

The KOIN Center opened in 1984, but according to Wall hasn’t received any update or renovation since. She compared it to 鈥渁 kitchen that’s dated but functional.鈥�

But the building will no longer be dated after completion of $4.5 million in renovations that will begin in September, Wall said.

鈥淲e will have a comprehensive renovation of the lobby with new flooring and new finishes on the walls and upgrades to the elevator cabs,鈥� she said.

Also, the lobby will be enlarged by 鈥渞ecapturing space that is leased to tenants,鈥� Wall said. A new stairwell will be built from the lobby to the mezzanine and a new bicycle hub with secured bike parking will be installed.

But the most exciting improvement, Wall said, will be a 20-foot-by-20-foot media wall on the lobby’s west side.

鈥淚t is made up of LCD screens and we can broadcast content over that, including social media or customized content,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f there’s a particularly big event, such as the Masters golf tournament, happening we will be able to broadcast it over our media wall.鈥�

The wall is actually 鈥渁 bunch of individual screens鈥� that look like one giant screen, and will offer some interactive capabilities for tenants, Wall added.

Other improvements include making the lobby more of a lounge area rather than 鈥渁 place you go through to get to the elevators,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e will have soft seating, rugs and softer furnishings and a table where people can plug in their laptop or cellphone,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want to make it more of a living space.鈥�

Wall said the KOIN Center is the most iconic structure in Portland’s skyline, and that although it doesn’t have trophy status yet, it will soon.

鈥淔rom any point, you can recognize the KOIN tower, but when you look at the handful of trophy spaces 鈥� the top Class A buildings 鈥� at this point we are not on that list,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we are investing to create the type of environment that will bring more overall success to leasing of the property and elevate it to that list.鈥�