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When Security Properties‘ Heartline development began coming out of the ground across the street from Vacasa‘s office, the fast-growing tech company’s chief executive, Eric Breon, wasn’t particularly motivated to move. But as Heartline took shape, the logic of expanding into a new office building on the next block grew overwhelming.

鈥淎s it got closer and closer, we couldn’t resist it,鈥� Breon said during a tour of the new office space last week.

Vacasa took all of Heartline’s office space 鈥� 61,000 square feet 鈥� with an 11-year lease. The company is also retaining 24,000 square feet at the RiverTec building in the Pearl District, and subletting 12,000 additional square feet in the older building.

Vacasa employees began moving into the Heartline building in late August. The building will be home to about 325 employees, with room to accommodate as many as 475 to 500.

Breon looked at other offices before committing to Heartline, located on a Pearl District block bounded by Northwest Johnson and Kearney streets and 12th and 13th avenues.

He considered Field Office in the North Pearl, but soured on the location when he once was stuck behind a train. He looked at options in East Portland 鈥� Vacasa was once located in the heart of Alberta Street’s commercial district 鈥� but could not find enough space.

鈥淭rying to find this much square footage on the east side wasn’t really possible,鈥� he said.

The prospect of moving to a suburb such as Hillsboro or Beaverton also wasn’t seriously considered, Breon said. Many of Vacasa’s employees commute by bicycle or mass transit, he said.

鈥淚 think moving out to the suburbs 鈥� that would be pretty hard for us to adjust to and it’s not something I see happening,鈥� he said.

Heartline, designed by Mithun of Seattle and built by general contractor Andersen Construction, appealed with plentiful natural light and fresh air from operable windows and doors. The building’s smaller floor plates meant employees wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of a full-block floor, far from windows.

Developers are competing to attract large office tenants like Vacasa that can anchor a major project. With a flood of new office buildings and others under construction or in development, it’s a tenant’s market.

Breon had one tip: build better staircases.

鈥淭he one complaint I have about our building 鈥� and the one thing I’d love to see more developers focus on 鈥� is more prominent stairs,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o we have two stair towers here. We use them a lot; I predominantly use the stairs as opposed to the elevator, but they’re designed more as an afterthought. They’re designed for meeting fire code.

鈥淢aking the stairs as nice as the elevators would be something I’d love to see more of.鈥�

Heartline’s interior, designed by GBD Architects, has all of the accoutrements of a contemporary tech office: pingpong and foosball tables, beer and kombucha on tap and a coffee station in the lobby staffed by a barista. GBD’s tenant improvement project was valued at $6.8 million by a city permit.

All of the desks are sleek, motorized, sit-stand models. Breon took an interest in a new model of Herman Miller chair when it was still in development. After signing a nondisclosure agreement, he was allowed to look at a prototype chair. The chairs are now at each desk.

Heartline has an enormous bike garage, bike-maintenance stations and a bike wash area. It also has two floors of underground vehicle parking.

A narrow, semi-public space divides Vacasa’s office building from the 218-unit Heartline apartment building with which it shares the block.

The ground-floor retail space is filling. Kure Juice Bar and QuickFish, a poke bowl restaurant, have opened. Tenant improvements are under way for Little Bean, a nondairy ice cream shop. A lease is in the works with an undisclosed tenant for one suite, and there are multiple offers on other suites, said Brian Greeley, vice president of Urban Works Real Estate.

Vacasa, which manages and markets vacation rental properties, has about 2,600 employees worldwide, with more than 400 in Portland, 150 in Boise, Idaho, and 150 in Chile. Others are spread at hot vacation rental markets around the world.

The company recently acquired Oasis Collections, a home-sharing company with an international portfolio of 10,600 properties in top-tier markets such as Barcelona, Spain and Santiago, Chile.

Visit /news/2018/10/09/photos-inside-vacasas-new-pearl-district-office/ to view more photos of the building.