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Downtown Development Group didn’t have to look far for guidance on Eleven West, a 25-story mixed-use tower under construction in Portland’s West End.

Twelve West, directly across Southwest Washington Street, between 12th and 13th avenues, opened in 2009 with ZGF Architects as the anchor office tenant. The gleaming glass tower topped by windmills was one of the landmark buildings completed during the Great Recession era.

鈥淚t set the high-water mark at the time,鈥� said Matthew Goodman, vice president of the Portland real estate development firm. 鈥淎nd this will do the same.鈥�

Much of the same team has reunited for Eleven West. Downtown Development Group is the property owner and co-developer. Green Cities and Edlen & Co. (successor firms of Gerding Edlen) are also co-developers, but for fees only. ZGF Architects is designing the building.

Eleven West will be a sister tower to Twelve West 鈥� approximately the same size and with similar programming. When completed next year, the mixed-use building will offer 117,000 square feet of office space, 213 apartments and approximately 8,000 square feet of retail space. Parking will be provided via approximately 220 underground stalls.

Twelve West provided a 鈥減roof of concept,鈥� Goodman said.

鈥淲e were able to build a very similar program across the street, and the program was quite successful,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur intention was not to reinvent the wheel. At the same time, we wanted to elevate what we did at 12-W and improve upon it.鈥�

For Eleven West, Downtown Development Group brought on an equity partner: Cresset Partners. Eleven West is one of seven properties in Cresset’s first opportunity zone fund, which closed in 2020. The Chicago-based investment firm has since opened a second fund.

The Eleven West property was swept into Portland’s opportunity zone that was created by Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon lawmakers in response to a 2017 federal law. Formerly a surface parking lot, the half-block property was part of the Goodman family’s parking business that later provided a virtual Monopoly board of downtown properties available for redevelopment.

Some analysts have ranked Portland’s opportunity zone 鈥� covering much of downtown, the West End and the Central Eastside 鈥� as the most attractive for real estate investment in the U.S. Development has boomed in the West End, including BPM Real Estate‘s 35-story Ritz-Carlton tower at Block 216, the Moxy Hotel and Unico Properties‘ redevelopment of the Galleria building.

Eleven West enjoys the 鈥渂est corner in the West End,鈥� said Nick Marietti, managing director for Cresset.

Cresset was attracted to the location, the Goodmans’ development record and the promised quality of the project, Marietti said.

鈥淥ur funds are designed to target institutional quality, best-in-class ground up development in opportunity zones around the country, with the goal of creating a diversified portfolio in both product type and geography,鈥� he said.

Downtown Development Group organizes its investment in Eleven West through a single-asset opportunity zone fund. Such funds provide capital gains tax benefits that encourage property investors to hold the assets for at least 10 years.

Eleven West’s construction comes as downtown Portland has struggled to fully emerge from the pandemic. Vacancy rates have surged in the city’s office sector as the pandemic scrambled employers’ needs and expectations for the workplace.

Goodman believes the office space will come to market at the right time.

鈥淲e’re lucky that we didn’t deliver in ’21 or ’22,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ime is our friend, as hopefully the pandemic wanes and people are returning to their offices.鈥�

Eleven West will slot in among the pricier office assets on the market. Asking rents are in the high $30s to $40 per square foot on a triple-net basis. CBRE is representing the office space, while Commercial Realty Advisors represents the retail suites.

Eleven West’s office space, Goodman said, will benefit from a 鈥渇light to quality鈥� that the office market has experienced since the pandemic began. Companies are looking for offices that lift their profile and help attract and retain employees, he said.

The building includes many touches aimed at the high-end market, including cantilevered balconies on floors six and seven that will extend over the neighboring Culver building, which the Goodmans also own 鈥� meaning they control the air rights. The eighth floor features a swimming pool that will likewise be cantilevered over the side.

鈥淲e really enjoyed getting to nerd out on the major design moves in the building,鈥� Goodman said.

For office users, the glass fa莽ade features panels that can slide fully open to outdoor air. Floor plates range from 17,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet. Office users and residents will have separate entrances, lobbies and amenities.

鈥淲e needed each of the asset classes in the building to stand on their own,鈥� Goodman said.

The pandemic hit before construction began, enabling the project team to upgrade to MERV 13 air filters throughout and bipolar ionization systems in office spaces and common areas.

Twelve West was the first mixed-use high-rise in the nation to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum status. The same status is being targeted for Eleven West.

Turner Construction is serving as general contractor. Completion is expected in early 2023, and office tenants could begin building out improvements as early as the third quarter of this year, Goodman said.

For Downtown Development Group, Eleven West represents a bet that Portland tenants still want luxury office, residential and retail space 鈥� and will pay for it.

鈥淭here’s always a market in Portland for that high level of quality,鈥� Goodman said.