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The city of Portland will lease additional space for the Bureau of Development Services, which is feeling crunched due to a steady rise in building activity.

The Portland City Council agreed to enter a 39-month lease with Premera Blue Cross for BDS to occupy 18,000 square feet at the CH2M Hill Center at 2020 S.W. Fourth Ave. The location was selected partly due to its proximity to BDS’ current home in the 1900 Building, which the city co-owns with Portland State University.

Some city offices are already located in the CH2M Hill Center.

BDS’ space in the 1900 Building has become crowded with people and project activity because of the building boom, according to Pauline Goble, property manager with the Bureau of Internal Business Services.

Tracking data from BDS shows big gains in building activity since November 2013. The number of permits issued jumped from 708 then to 984 in November 2016, and their total valuation rose by more than 190 percent.

Despite the uptick in permit activity, BDS has 50 vacancies, according to Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, the bureau’s head.

There were 338 BDS employees in November 2016, or 120 more than in November 2013.