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The Redd on Salmon Street 鈥� a $23 million, two-block Ecotrust adaptive reuse development in Portland’s Central Eastside 鈥� is nearing completion.

Designed to support local food producers, distributors, chefs and others involved in food enterprises, the Redd is being constructed in two phases. The first, Redd West, was completed in 2015. The former distribution hub sits on Southeast Salmon Street between 7th and 8th avenues, and features more than 20,000 square feet of warehouse space serving cold storage, packaging and distribution needs. It also has three commercial kitchens.

Redd East, on track to come online soon, will provide a sizable event center for hosting food-related events, activities and classes. There will be a main event hall, meeting rooms and community kitchens for events. Operations are expected to begin by the end of this year, with a grand opening scheduled to follow next March.

A century ago, the Redd East building originally was the Hesse-Erstead Ironworks. Today, a large metal press and a pair of looming gantry cranes are the only remaining pieces of that operation. They’re being retained, but little else will 鈥� in large part because of what had to be done to shore up the building.

鈥淚’d say the main thing has been the structural issues in trying to get this thing upgraded,鈥� said Brian Layman, a superintendent with general contractor Walsh Construction. 鈥淚t was seismically retrofitted, and you’ll see the big brace frames inside. We ended up holding the building up from the inside and then replacing walls, essentially, so a lot of this building is a new building. That was definitely challenging, just trying to keep it supported as we were working underneath it.鈥�

Walsh Construction also served as general contractor for Redd West; Urban Patterns Architecture designed both phases.

Currently, interior and exterior finish work is proceeding on Redd East, which will retain much of its raw, industrial character. A mix of reclaimed and new wood is being used on the interior, including cedar beams from the Coquille tribe.

鈥淭he trim around the windows is reclaimed fir,鈥� Layman said. 鈥淏ut most of the other wood paneling is from the Ecotrust forest, and they’re finishing up a room right now 鈥� that wood is from the tribe that donated to the project.鈥�

Currently, Art Cortez Construction is installing drywall, Burgener’s Woodworking is performing interior finishes, McDonald & Wetle Inc. is carrying out roofing improvements, Merit Electrical Inc. is performing electrical work, Peninsula Plumbing Co. is handling plumbing, Bealer Construction is taking care of siding, American Heating is handling HVAC, Culver Glass is building storefronts, and Hillebrand Construction is finishing right-of-way concrete work.