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A review of some sizable building investments

By: Chuck Slothower//December 26, 2019//

A review of some sizable building investments

Chuck Slothower//December 26, 2019//

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A new building at the Adidas campus in North Portland, depicted in a 2018 rendering, is part of a package of improvements at the campus that comprised the highest-value building permit issued in Portland this year. (LEVER Architecture, via city of Portland)
A new building at the Adidas campus in North Portland, depicted in a 2018 rendering, is part of a package of improvements at the campus that comprised the highest-value building permit issued in Portland this year. (LEVER Architecture, via city of Portland)

The Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard must be helping Adidas sell a lot of basketball shoes.

The company’s North American headquarters is on an expansion kick in North Portland, and generated the construction permit with the single highest dollar amount in the city of Portland in 2019, according to the Bureau of Development Services.

Adidas’ building permit for two new office buildings at 5070 N. Greeley Ave., issued on Sept. 16, ascended above the rim with a $149 million valuation. The permit was for a five-story office building with five stories of underground parking, a second new building, additions to a third building and surrounding East Village site improvements, including required landscaping and screening.

The Adidas permit was by far the most valuable. The one with the second-highest value was $81 million for the Fourth and Montgomery building, a south downtown collaboration shared by Oregon Health & Science University, Portland State University, Portland Community College and the city of Portland. The permit for the seven-story, three-quarter block project was issued on May 16.

Development in 2019 was “a little choppy,” said Sam Rodriguez, senior managing director of , a major multifamily developer. Mill Creek is developing , which had a permit that ranked fourth on the list.

The economy recovered quickly after flashing recessionary signals in the fall.

“The good news is we’re not at the end of a cycle – at least it doesn’t feel like that,” Rodriguez said.

Rents have remained stable amid deliveries of thousands of new apartments. A slowdown in new proposals offers hope for future projects, Rodriguez said.

“It seems like we’re reaching equilibrium moving forward, which makes development possible,” he said.

The office market appears to be at a similar point as multifamily. Projects totaling more than 1.6 million square feet were under construction or renovation in November, according to , but that number is expected to soon decline.

“While the elevated level of office development remains historically high for Portland, it is set to slow down considerably over the next year when all but Block 216, J.K. Gill and Arete will deliver,” a JLL office report stated.

The Fourth and Montgomery building in downtown Portland represented the second-highest value building permit issued in Portland in 2019. (Josh Kulla/91Ƶ)
The Fourth and Montgomery building in downtown Portland represented the second-highest value building permit issued in Portland in 2019. (Josh Kulla/91Ƶ)

No one type of project dominated the bureau’s list of most expensive projects. The top 10 includes three office buildings, four multifamily buildings, a middle school, a hospital expansion and a hotel. Multifamily buildings were seven of the next 10 most-valuable projects.

The permit data comes from the Bureau of Development Services, which collated the most valuable permits at the 91Ƶ’s request. It includes new construction permits issued between Jan. 1 and Dec. 19.

The list does not include some large projects, such as the 35-story Block 216 tower for Ritz-Carlton – it has received excavation permits, but not building permits. Other major construction projects under way, such as the Hyatt Regency at the Oregon Convention Center, were working based on permits from prior years.

The data is also necessarily limited to city boundaries – leaving out major projects in, for example, unincorporated Washington County, where Adidas’ largest competitor resides.

Here are the top-dollar building permits in Portland during 2019:

  1. Adidas East Campus expansion, 5070 N. Greeley Ave., issued Sept. 16. Two new buildings, a building addition and outdoor improvements. $149.1 million, Turner Construction Co.
  2. Fourth and Montgomery, 1810 S.W. Fifth Ave., issued May 16. New seven-story, three-quarter-block mixed-use building with classrooms and offices for Oregon Health & Science University, Portland State University, Portland Community College and the city of Portland. $81 million, Andersen Construction.
  3. Legacy Emanuel West, 2835 N. Kerby Ave., issued May 17. Five-story core-and-shell building with two stories of below-grade structured parking. $73.7 million, Andersen Construction.
  4. Modera Glisan, 1430 N.W. Hoyt St., issued Feb. 14. A 12-story, three-quarter-block mixed-use building with 291 apartments, 201 parking spaces and retail space for Mill Creek Residential Trust. $63.8 million, MCRT PNW Construction LLC.
  5. ART Tower, 1510 S.W. Alder St., issued Oct. 7. A 21-story building with 314 apartments, 5,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 215 parking stalls in four undergrounds levels for developer Wood Partners of Atlanta. $55.2 million, Andersen Construction.
  6. TriMet administration building, 9800 S.E. Powell Blvd., issued March 5. Administration and operations building for TriMet with expanded employee parking. A separate permit was issued for a bus fueling and washing building. $51.4 million, JE Dunn Construction Co.
  7. Kellogg Middle School, 3400 S.E. 69th Ave., issued July 10. Three-story, 100,000-square-foot Portland Public Schools building with a covered play area, play field, parking lot and vehicle access road. $44 million, Todd Construction.
  8. E2 Building (Block 40), 3883 S.W. Moody Ave., issued Dec. 9. Seven-story, 245,000-square-foot, mixed-use building with 232 apartments, retail space and two levels of underground parking for Alamo Manhattan of Dallas. $43.5 million, Andersen Construction.
  9. Saltwood North, 1650 N.W. 21st Ave., issued Aug. 6. Six-story apartment building with 177 residential units, ground-floor retail space, residential amenity space and two stories of underground parking for Cairn Pacific and Prometheus Real Estate Group. $40 million, Bremik Construction (A separate permit valued at $35 million was issued for Saltwood South, at 2050 N.W. Raleigh St. Bremik Construction is the general contractor).
  10. Hyatt Centric Hotel, 601 S.W. 11th Ave., issued Jan. 8. A 15-story, 215-room hotel for Mortenson. $37.4 million, Mortenson Construction.


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