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POWER LIST: ARCHITECTURE

SERA does business in ways that set it apart. It is, for example, a rare firm to be owned by its employees.

鈥淥ne of the tenets of how we practice and what we do is to go out there and make people鈥檚 lives better, whether it鈥檚 in our work or for our staff,鈥� principal Joe Pinzone said.

SERA now has an office in Oakland, California, that is at work on projects including a 13-story mass-timber affordable housing project that is aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum status, and a five-story affordable housing structure using modular construction.

Locally, SERA is tackling multifamily projects in Slabtown, helping bring about a neighborhood transition from industrial to mixed-use residential. The firm has also developed a specialty in sympathetic renovations of historic commercial structures, including the J.K. Gill, Galleria and Meier and Frank buildings.

鈥淎ll of those are real gem buildings downtown,鈥� Pinzone said.

SERA has designed hospitality projects like the new AC Hotel by Marriott and Hyatt Centric Portland.

Affordable housing is part of the firm鈥檚 socially driven portfolio, with projects including The Henry for Central City Concern. Market-rate developers have shown SERA favor 鈥� Mill Creek Residential Trust has tapped the firm to design multiple Modera-brand multifamily projects.

Other firms may garner more hype, but SERA doesn鈥檛 lack for substance. Pinzone doesn鈥檛 mind being an underdog.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e undersold a little bit,鈥� he said.