91视频

In downtown Portland, on a half block at the corner of Southwest Broadway and Clay Street, the Broadway Tower project is finally approaching substantial completion. Work started in March 2016 on the project to produce a 19-story, 260-foot-tall structure.

Walter Bowen’s BPM Real Estate Group is the developer of the $158 million building, which will hold a 180-room Radisson Red luxury hotel and approximately 182,000 gross square feet of Class A office space.

Bowen recently answered via email questions from the 91视频 about the Broadway Tower project, its place in Portland and the state of the real estate and development market.

This correspondence has been condensed and edited for clarity.

91视频: With much of the Broadway Tower pre-leased prior to construction completion, there is still high demand in Portland for Class A office space. How much further can the market go?

Walter Bowen: Broadway Tower is currently 80 percent (leased). We are down to our last two full floors. We have strong activity on the remaining space and expect to open in October with above 90 percent occupancy.

The demand for newly constructed office space downtown will continue for the foreseeable future as the millennials prefer a central business district over the suburbs. Market demand, great location and the right project at the right time are keys to a successful real estate development. While the office sector might be in the eighth inning (with potential of extra innings) of the current cycle, we continue to be bullish on high-quality, well-designed, newly constructed office space in Portland’s urban core.

91视频: The same is true of hotel space in Portland. What can the market bear, in your opinion?

Bowen: Radisson Red is a perfect fit for Portland. It is a hotel that delivers the amenities and guest services with the elegant style that millennials and entrepreneurs expect when they travel to a city for business or pleasure. In addition, Portland does not have a five-star hotel. There is clearly demand for a five-star hotel that we expect to deliver on Block 216.

91视频: What are your goals for the Broadway Tower building?

Bowen: The building will be managed by our in-house property management company WCB Commercial Properties. We will hold both the office and hotel components for the near term.

91视频: Is it true that Portland developers are finding it increasingly sensible to 鈥済o big or go home鈥� when it comes to projects?

Bowen: With increasing land and construction costs, you need to develop larger projects to achieve 鈥渆conomies of scale鈥� to get projects to pencil. Real estate development is a margin business. Smaller projects are tougher to make sense economically.

91视频: What does the Broadway Tower bring to the South Park Blocks that was not previously there?

Bowen: We are the first tower to combine both office and hotel into a single building. This creates an 鈥�18 hour鈥� building as the office component is more active on weekdays and the hotel is more active on weeknights and on weekends. Several of our tenants selected Broadway Tower due to the high-quality construction, excellent multimodal location within the center of downtown, and the in-building amenities including 180-key hotel, bar, restaurant and ample on-site auto plus bike parking.

91视频: Is this a development statement of sorts for BPM Real Estate?

Bowen: I have always erred to the side of delivering the highest quality buildings. Best-of-class buildings outperform the market in good economies and bad.

Broadway Tower continues the tradition of world-class structures at the confluence of Portland’s financial, education and arts districts, on one of Portland’s most historic streets.聽This exciting, mixed-use building will stand the test of time and be enjoyed by Portlanders for many years to come.

91视频: What are your upcoming plans?

Bowen: We are in early design and entitlement for a 960,000-square-foot, 35-story mixed-use tower on Block 216. This project will include a 237-key, five-star hotel (with large banquet, restaurant and bar facilities as well as 19th- and 20th-floor pool and spa), 190,000 square feet of office space and 138 high-end, co-branded residential condominium units on the top floors. This will be the largest private-sector building to break ground since the U.S. Bancorp tower (鈥淏ig Pink鈥�).

We are delivering a unique product to Portland. Attracting young, millennial talent is a priority for employers. This will be the first office/hotel/residential tower in the city. We’re creating a place for really smart people, for entrepreneurs to live and grow their businesses in downtown Portland.