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The University of Oregon-Portland has achieved the American dream: after years of paying rent, it finally has a home of its own.

The sale of the property that houses several graduate school programs was finalized last week. The University of Oregon Foundation paid Venerable Group Inc. $42.6 million last week for the 137,000-square-foot White Stag Block.

The property includes the Bickel Building, the Skidmore Building and the White Stag Building, which supports the iconic White Stag neon sign at the foot of the Burnside Bridge.

鈥淭his is terrific for us as a university and we are just delighted,鈥� UO School of Architecture spokeswoman Karen Johnson said. 鈥淥ur architecture program has long awaited such news and now we have a permanent home.鈥�

The property is in a great location in Old Town Chinatown, she said, and upholds the school’s commitment to urban revitalization. The university previously rented the property from Venerable Group since 2008.

鈥淭his gives us a place to permanently run some of our programs,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淎nd we’ve been in the city for decades.鈥�

The university’s Portland campus houses: the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, where students can achieve a master’s in business administration; the UO School of Law; and the graduate school of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, where students can pursue a master’s in architecture and a fifth-year bachelor of fine arts in product design and digital arts. The George S. Turnbull Portland Center at the Portland campus houses graduate programs for master’s degrees in multimedia journalism and strategic communications. The Portland campus also offers a Master of Science in sports product management.

The White Stag Block was purchased from the Naito family in 2006, Venerable President Craig Kelly said. Venerable then undertook a 鈥渕assive renovation鈥� that required about 18 months to complete and garnered a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, he said.

Kelly said Venerable founder Art DeMuro, who died in 2012, was very involved in the restoration project, so he has an emotional attachment to it.

鈥淲e worked hand-in-hand on it and this was like one of our children,鈥� he said. 鈥淚’m very proud of it and it’s a testament to our standards. Here’s a building that was renovated almost 10 years ago and it still looks great, and I think it will continue to look great and be a standard for the future.鈥�

According to , the renovation merged the three historic buildings at the site. The Bickel Building was designed in 1883 by Justus Krumbein and completed in 1892 for German candy maker Frederick Bickel. The Skidmore Building was completed in 1889 by pharmacist Stephen Skidmore as a warehouse and the White Stag building was constructed in 1907 as a manufacturing site and warehouse for the Willamette Tent and Awning Company.

University of Oregon Foundation President Paul Weinhold was unavailable for an interview, according to his office, but said in a statement that the White Stag Block is 鈥渁 significant resource to the university community.鈥�

Kelly said he is sure that the university will continue to take good care of the old buildings.

鈥淯ltimately I wanted to sell to a party I knew would be a good steward,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have an emotional attachment because of the connection with Art DeMuro, and it makes me feel good that it has been sold to a quality organization that would own and care for it.鈥�