Chuck Slothower//July 8, 2016//

The 15-story Commonwealth Building, constructed in downtown Portland in 1948, has sold for $69 million.
The 216,099-square-foot building was purchased by KBS Capital Advisors, a Newport Beach, California-based affiliate of KBS Growth & Income Real Estate Investment Trust, according to a news release. Financing came in the form of a $47.4 million, five-year floating rate acquisition loan from an insurance company. The loan was arranged by HFF, which also marketed the property.
The seller was Unico Properties, a limited liability company. The property previously sold for $41 million in 2013 and $27.7 million in 2007.
The latest sale equates to $319 per square foot.
Pietro Belluschi, a notable Portland architect who died in 1994, designed the building at 421 S.W. Sixth Ave.
The Commonwealth Building was remodeled between 2013 and 2015 into creative office space. The building fronts the Sixth Avenue transit mall, and includes flexible office space, a fitness center and basement bicycle storage.
Tenants include Quantum Spatial, Kennedy Jenks, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and Galois Inc.
The building has a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. Originally named the Equitable Building, it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The sale comes amid a backdrop of strong demand for office space in Portland. Class A office space had average asking rents of $31.33 during the second quarter, and a total vacancy rate of 7.8 percent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.