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Downtown Portland’s long-neglected Old Town Chinatown neighborhood is getting an injection of investment from a California firm.

Swift Real Estate Partners, based in San Francisco, has purchased three office buildings in Old Town Chinatown for nearly $10.9 million.

The buildings – the Merchant Hotel, the Captain Couch building and the Norton House building – are two to four stories each; they are clustered around Couch Street and First and Second avenues.

CBRE Capital Markets, also based in San Francisco, secured financing for the deal.

Swift plans to modernize the buildings, lease the vacant space and bring rents to current market levels, CBRE said in a news release. The move is based on lower prices per square foot, strong absorption trends and rising rents, the company said.

A Swift executive did not return messages seeking comment.

Trevor Kafoury, Michelle Franceschi and Tiffany West of CBRE Portland will exclusively represent Swift Real Estate Partners in leasing the properties’ office space.

The Norton House, built in 1875, is the oldest building in the portfolio. The Merchant Hotel was built in 1880, and the Captain Couch building in 1904.