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With so-called 鈥淥ld Portland鈥� disappearing amid a construction boom, some developers are now striving to make connections to properties’ pasts.

This is particularly true for adaptive reuse projects. One prominent example can now be found in Northwest Portland, where crews are stripping out the interiors of three large warehouses that until early last year housed Cenveo‘s Graphic Arts Center.

Now, general contractor R&H Construction is busy updating the campus 鈥� now named The Hopper 鈥� to serve as a hybrid commercial/industrial facility for project partners Winkler Development Corp. and Watumull Properties Corp. LRS Architects carried out the design work on the campus, which dates back to the mid-1960s.

鈥淲e knew,鈥� Winkler Development Corp. principal Jordan Winkler said, 鈥渢hat we were going to take what was obsolete functionally, obsolete physically 鈥� and turn it into a modern industrial campus, and that’s what we’re setting out to do. It’s touching almost every surface here.鈥�

The three buildings sit on 5.3 acres of property at 2000 N.W. Wilson St. Together they total more than 167,000 square feet, primarily open space. Tens of thousands of square feet of office space also will be created to potentially diversify the tenant base.

The first tenant will actually be R&H Construction itself. The contractor will set up its shop in 34,000 square feet of Building B, which sits in the middle of the block along Northwest Wilson Street between 20th and 21st avenues. That space will be used to store equipment and perform maintenance on vehicles and other gear. R&H also will occupy some 18,000 square feet of Building C to accommodate management, project engineers and other support staff.

鈥淚 would call it industrial chic in its existing state,鈥� R&H project manager Kraig O’Connor said. 鈥淲e are very much going to let the tilt walls talk a lot, but we’re going to paint them up. And for our office space, we’re certainly going with a stucco look and a big, pretty dramatic storefront. We’re really letting just the warehouse elements lead.鈥�

A towering cyclonic paper separator that once was used to recycle waste paper from the Graphic Arts Center’s printing operations dominates the campus from its perch atop Building A. It’s known colloquially as a hopper, Winkler said.

鈥淲e just thought it was cool, so we kept it and named the building after it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to name the building 鈥楾he Cyclone,’ but it was deemed too aggressive.鈥�

This particular building would probably best suit a retailer or other commercial tenant, Winkler added, mainly because it sits on the corner of the property most visible to passing foot and vehicle traffic.

For now, construction is being carried out in phases. Building B is already complete and in operation. Building A is next. It has been cleared, repainted and given a complete seismic enhancement featuring steel backing and other fixtures to better secure the roof and foundation to the concrete tilt-panel walls. All of the campus buildings will undergo similar upgrades.

鈥淧rimarily we’re looking at dealing with out-of-plane loading,鈥� O’Connor explained. 鈥淪o we’ve done a lot with steel, strong backing, we’re really trying to focus on diaphragm strengthening, so there’s been nailing and strapping of the roof and tying the diaphragm to exterior walls to get the load down to the ground.鈥�

Winkler also sees plenty of room for growth in the neighborhood. For starters, two large planned transportation projects will bring significant changes. One calls for realignment of the Interstate 405 off-ramp at Northwest Vaughn Street. This would shunt drivers north to Wilson Street and past The Hopper to allow access to the huge Con-way Blocks development slightly south.

A second project, Winkler said, could potentially bring the Portland Streetcar much farther north than at present. That also would provide greater connectivity with the rest of the area.

鈥淚t’s not at all finalized,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut in every alignment I’ve seen it stops either at or very close to this property.鈥�