At the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Oak Street sits the Wells Fargo building, Oregon’s first skyscraper. Designed by noted architect and native Oregonian Benjamin Wistar Morris III, it stands at 12 stories in Second Renaissance Revival style.

It was completed in 1907 to support Wells Fargo’s growing banking and express operations. At the time, the building also housed Southern Pacific Railroad and Oregon Railway and Navigation.

That same year a financial panic jolted Wall Street, and Wells Fargo split off its banking business and held only its express delivery business in Portland. It sold its banking interests to U.S. National Bank, which promptly moved in.

In 1922 the building was purchased by a prominent Portland investor, Andrew Porter, who was also the director of U.S. National Bank. It would be known as “The Porter Building” until U.S. Bank purchased the building outright in 1946 to house its expanding business, which had already enveloped the neighboring building known as U.S. Bank Main Branch. It would eventually outgrow this location as well, and move across the street to the U.S. Bancorp Tower.

“The (Wells Fargo) building is a remarkable example of historic architecture,” said John Beardsley, the current owner.

The doorstep at the building’s entryway is made from the largest slab of granite ever shipped to Oregon, measuring six feet long and nearly six feet thick. A major renovation in 1923 by architect Albert E. Doyle would double the size of the ground-floor interior.

Doyle was responsible for much of Portland’s architectural work in downtown Portland during the first part of the 20th century. Other examples of his designs include: the Benson Hotel, Reed College, the Central Library and the Pacific Building.

The Wells Fargo building is also a fine example of terra-cotta architecture, which features fireproof bricks or blocks molded of fine grain clay. As was customary during that period, the terra-cotta was glazed and meant to emulate the look of granite.

The building is faced entirely with terra-cotta tiles that were adhered directly to its steel frame (another first for Oregon). The decorative terra-cotta that adorns the building’s crown was made by artisans by pressing fine clay into plaster molds. This ornamental work is reflected at the roof level in the form of wreaths, blue wave scrolls, and of course the letters spelling “Wells Fargo.”

Cast iron trims window and door frames of the two-story arches at street level, and the windows of the top two stories are trimmed in brick. The fire escape on the Oak Street side of the Wells Fargo building is also home to the popular “Raptor Cam,” where raptors have elected to return and nest each year.

Beardsley renovated the Wells Fargo building’s lobby when he purchased it in 1999, during the dot-com boom. “In the dot-com days, a person could just sit back and take orders for the space,” he said.

One of the first things Beardsley did was remove the modern-day drop ceilings that were put in place during the U.S. Bank days, and restored the lovely 12-foot ceilings intended originally. This in turn opened up the windows, allowing flow of natural light onto each floor.

“That change made those floors more desirous for this new, technically-oriented generation of tenants, and resulted in those tenancies coming to this building instead of more modern competing towers, such as U.S. Bancorp Tower,” Beardsley quipped.

When I asked Beardsley which of the buildings in his portfolio was his favorite, he replied, “Buildings are like children: You can’t have a favorite, each has their own unique character and personality.”

The Wells Fargo building definitely has character and personality. Oregon’s first skyscraper is now home to First Citizens bank and a variety of high-tech and environmental startups that are flourishing in its well-illuminated and creative environment.

Tracy Laine is a nonfiction writer who resides in Portland. Contact her at 503-890-0100 or at tracylaine@comcast.net.

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During the Great Depression, Norris, Beggs and Simpson was founded as Norris, Beggs and Base.  On April 1, 1932 it opened its doors as a property management firm in the old Wilcox building at 506 S.W. Sixth Ave., where it occupied the entire second floor. The firm has since seen its share of growth and change.

While other companies were closing, Norris, Beggs and Base was expanding and opening a second office in Tacoma, Wash. This caught the attention of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Co., based in Boston, which approached Norris, Beggs and Base to manage the foreclosed properties in San Francisco. This alliance allowed NBS to expand its service offerings into mortgage origination.

David Simpson joined the company in 1936, initiating the name change. Clayton Hering, chairman of NBS’ board, said, “You would always find Mr. Simpson impeccably dressed in the latest fashion and never without a hat. His time spent outside of the office was at the Arlington Club, where he would often change his suit and shirt after lunch before returning to the office. The man had a ‘twinkle’ in his eye. His wife was kept on a farm in Carlton, never to be seen by the public.”

The farm was a 450-acre spread called Hickory Hill; Simpson was into animal husbandry. According to the 1942 issue of Who’s Who magazine, Simpson told one of his clients, Fred Meyer, that he had always wanted to train a lion. When Meyer opened his next store, he had, as part of the event, some lions on exhibit. When a cub came along, Meyer gave it to Simpson, who promptly named it “My-te-fine.” Training the lion turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected, and it was donated to the Portland zoo.

Simpson was a lion in his own right.

“He was in good company with Fred Meyer, Aaron Frank, Andy Anderson and Boyd McNaughton,” Hering said. “It was often remarked by the NBS staff that when they would meet … the building would “tip a little” due to the weight of the clout.”

Expansion continued throughout the ’30s. NBS opened another office in Seattle; however, during World War II, the brokers went off to defend their country and the office was ultimately closed.

In 1952, it acquired San Francisco-based Robert Cramm Co., increasing its mortgage loan service offering. Sacramento seemed to be the next logical step, and NBS acquired the loan service portfolio of the McBridge Realty Co.

“In the California days they brought on a partner, Steven Gilley, who emulated Simpson’s dress and style,” Hering said. “He was aggressive, and quickly gained the reputation of ‘go to’ broker in the market. Steve got into a dispute with the California partners because his expense account exceeded everyone else’s combined and left in a huff, taking a large book of business and several brokers with him, starting the Gilley Company, which later became Cushman & Wakefield.”

NBS’ growth in California continued, and offices opened in San Jose, Oakland and Los Angeles.  From the 1960s-80s it held Hawaiian corporation NBS Ltd., which eventually merged into its California group, and in 1994 the California group was sold.

NBS joined NAI Global, a 350-office international commercial real estate network; opened a office in Vancouver, Wash., in 1985; and acquired the Harding Fletcher Co., a Portland commercial banking firm, in 1995. To strengthen its financial services division, NBS in 1997 joined Strategic Alliance Mortgage, which provides real-time market information to NBS mortgage bankers from SAM members across the country.

Change continued in the 21st century, including the formation of Morrison Street Capital LLC and NBS Multifamily Management. NBS opened an office in Bend and relocated the Bellevue, Wash., office to Seattle.

Another monumental milestone for the company was the announcement of Jan Robertson as Chief Executive Officer in 2011. She is the eighth person and the only woman to hold this title.

Robertson started with the company as an assistant property manager in her early 20s. According to Hering, “She is God-gifted in gray matter, and when I became president I promoted her to chief administrative officer. This meant that the partners and I gave her all of the ugly tasks we didn’t want to work on, and she rose to the challenge. She has been the glue that has held this company together for the last 30 years!”

Of her early days, Robertson said, “It was quite overwhelming. I had gone from small town to big business. I started just before our 50th anniversary and all the bigwigs came from California. It was like walking onto the set of ‘Mad Men.’ One thing I learned early, and still believe, is real estate is real. I remember one day typing away and then downtown on my lunch hour, I looked up and there was the building I had been doing the reports on all morning! I thought to myself: real buildings, real people. It was an ‘ah-ha’ moment, realizing that we were there to help people with their obligations, and that it mattered.”

Robertson said, “The future looks bright for NBS. A lot of companies haven’t made it through these most recent tough times, and with 80 years of experience we are well positioned for whatever might come next.”

NBS recently completed a major remodel of its office – the entire second floor of the Bank of America building at 121 S.W. Main St.

“We have repurposed the original lobby chairs, covering them in gray leather,” Robertson said. “The chairs are back in the lobby where they belong.”

The next time you pull up a seat at NBS, think about who has sat in those chairs before you, and who will make an impression in the future.

Tracy Laine is a business development manager for a national security services provider in Portland. Contact her at 503-890-0100 or at tracylaine@comcast.net.

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Long before “Portlandia” and “Grimm” arrived, Portland was star struck by the “King of Hollywood.” Best known for his portrayal of Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind,” legendary film star Clark Gable started his acting career in Oregon.

Upon receiving a small inheritance from his grandfather Gable in 1922 moved to Bend, where he worked in a lumberyard. He found the work unacceptable because he didn’t like the “getting dirty part.” It didn’t take him long to move to the metropolitan city of Portland with hopes of fulfilling his dream of becoming an actor.

Young William Clark Gable started his acting career humbly. He joined the Astoria Players, a vaudeville theater troupe that traveled between Portland and Astoria by steamboat, performing at various theater houses along the Columbia River. He started going by W.C. Gable, but his friends knew him as “Billy.”

While performing in Astoria, the group would stay at the Weinhart Hotel and perform at the Astoria Liberty Hall Theatre. Both buildings tragically burned to the ground in a 1922 fire, and the troupe disbanded.

After this sudden turn of events, Gable worked at Meier and Frank selling neckties and for the Oregonian as a copy boy. One day he spotted an advertisement: Actor needed for the Red Lantern Players.

Tryouts were held at the Little Theatre on 23rd Avenue, just off Washington Street on Nob Hill.  The Little Theatre was the first of its kind – one devoted to up-and-coming amateur groups. It was like a “Duff’s Garage” for actors.

It was here that the stage director, Josephine Dillon, first laid eyes on Gable. After a brief interview, he was hired as an actor. She took him under her wing, grooming him, coaching him, working on his diction and teaching him proper etiquette. She even had the large gap between his front teeth fixed.

It was also Dillon who encouraged him to drop the W.C. (so as not to be confused with W.C. Fields) and simply go by his middle name. Her efforts were not lost on Gable. She landed him a booking at the prestigious Portland Hotel that faced the Pioneer Courthouse.

In its day, the Portland Hotel held its own to the likes of the Waldorf-Astoria. Prominent guests of the Portland Hotel included 11 U.S. presidents. Clark was crooning for the Portland elite and their guests.

In 1951, the crumbling Portland Hotel was decommissioned, and bits and pieces were sold off.  Well-known Portland preservationist Eric Ladd purchased the iron scrollwork gate that was incorporated into the development of Pioneer Courthouse Square, where the hotel had stood.

In 1924, Dillon felt that Gable was ready for the big time. They moved from Oregon to Hollywood, where Dillon would become Gable’s first of five wives.

As she was 14 years his senior, it was speculated that the marriage was one of convenience. At one point Gable admitted that the marriage was never consummated. During the late 1920s Dillon landed him some parts in silent films, where he caught the attention of MGM. He got his big break and was cast to play the villain in “The Painted Desert.”

Although Gable never moved back to Oregon after hitting the big time, he returned many times to fly-fish on the Rogue River, often staying at the Weasku Inn fishing lodge in Grants Pass.

Clark Gable was the most coveted leading man of the 1930s and ’40s. He would make the top 10 box office list 16 times. The fame he found could be largely to thank for his experience in Portland and an “extreme makeover” by Dillon.

The city of Astoria recently commemorated Gable with a plaque on the building where the Astoria Liberty Hall Theatre once stood. Perhaps one day Portland will place one in Pioneer Courthouse Square, where he once sang for his supper.

Tracy Laine is a business development manager at Securitas Security Services. Contact her at 503-505-2708 or at tracy.laine@securitasinc.com.

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