Substantial work is complete on Daimler Trucks North America‘s new corporate headquarters building on Swan Island in Portland, a $150 million project that has been under construction for nearly two years. The 265,000-square-foot building, designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects, encompasses 9 floors and will house 1,150 employees at full capacity.

Hoffman Construction began work on the site in April 2014 with the demolition of a former shopping mall that was being used as partial office space, and construction of the new building started that July. Approximately 330 steel piles averaging a depth of 120 feet were driven into the dredged site, and stone columns were installed to stop the movement of earth in the event of an earthquake.

A Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design platinum rating will be sought for the building, which includes a green roof, radiant heating and cooling, a living wall, and window placement designed to maximize penetration of natural light, while a separate new four-story parking garage houses solar arrays.

Improvements to the 10-acre site include reconnecting a 1-mile segment of the Greenway Trail along the Willamette River, and extensive outdoor space along the river that includes terraced lawns and space for employees to play lawn games, a bocce ball court, and giant chess set. Mayer/Reed served as the project’s landscape architect.

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With demolition work completed, crews on Friday began building the $150 million office tower project for Daimler Trucks North America on Swan Island.

The event drew local and state dignitaries, including Gov. John Kitzhaber, and signaled the start of underground work that will precede erection of a nine-story, 265,000-square-foot tower and four-story parking garage, along with other site improvements.

Crews from Hoffman Construction Co., the project’s general contractor, and its subcontractors demolished a sprawling, 1970s-era former shopping mall that had served as office space on the 10-acre site.

The tower will take up considerably less acreage, said Josh Palmer, Daimler’s project director.

“By going up, we’re going to open up a lot of this site around the building,” he said. “It will be much more aesthetically pleasing and usable for the public and employees.”

Foundation work, on a previously dredged site, will require several months and use steel piles to stabilize the soil, Palmer said. Stone columns along the river will prevent movement of the earth in an earthquake. A stone column foundation will be built for the parking garage, he said.

A Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating will be sought for the project, which will feature a number of highly energy efficient elements, Palmer said. Some are photovoltaic systems, low-consumption water fixtures and an efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

“It will be one of the top 1 percent of all office buildings in the country,” he said.

The project also will enhance a one-mile portion of the Greenway Trail, providing greater riverfront access for the public, Palmer said.

At the project’s peak, more than 400 craft workers are expected to be on site, according to Hoffman Construction. Approximately 1,200 positions will be filled throughout construction.

Ankrom Moisan Architects is providing design services and Inici Group is serving as the project manager. The project is expected to finish in the first quarter of 2016.

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Portland-based Hoffman Construction Co. will serve as the contractor for Daimler Trucks North America‘s headquarters project on Swan Island.

The $150 million project calls for construction of a nine-story, 265,000-square-foot building and a parking garage. Work is set to begin this summer and finish in early 2016, according to Daimler.

The project team will strive for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating. Crews will improve an accessible greenway through the property along the Willamette River.

Daimler also confirmed that Northwest firm Ankrom Moisan Architects Inc. is providing design services.

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Daimler Trucks North America on Wednesday moved closer to building its $152 million corporate headquarters on Swan Island when the Portland Development Commission‘s board of commissioners unanimously approved an $8 million forgivable loan.

The company is planning to build a 265,000-square-foot facility along the island’s southern banks of the Willamette River. Construction is expected to ignite short-term and long-term economic activity.

Daimler’s role in Portland revitalization was not always so certain.

“I think this commitment that we’re on the cusp of making to Portland really signals our clear intention to be here for the long term,” said Josh Palmer, Daimler’s director of Project Nova, the code name given to the effort. “That was somewhat in doubt a few years ago … We have looked at other opportunities in other states.”

Several years ago Daimler announced it would shutter its Portland factory; then, in 2009, it turned about-face and said it would expand instead. The company has faced layoffs as recently as this year, and fears began to surface when white-collar workers were transferred to other headquarters in places like South Carolina. Daimler employs about 2,800 people locally, and 21,000 globally.

That anxiety was squashed in September when Daimler president and CEO Martin Daum, along with Gov. John Kitzhaber, announced plans to make Portland its official corporate headquarters, and build the new office facility. The project was contingent upon several sources of public funding: a $7 million enterprise tax zone abatement from the city, more than $3 million in state loans and grants, and the PDC loan.

“We are prepared to make a 20-year-plus commitment to stay in Portland, and we’re committed to bringing new jobs here in Portland,” Palmer told PDC commissioners on Wednesday. “We wouldn’t be here, and our management wouldn’t have made the decision to move forward, without the state and local support – a part of which you are being asked to approve here today.”

The PDC’s loan will be forgiven if Daimler invests at least $135 million, and adds at least 400 long-term jobs. If only a fraction of the job creation takes place, the PDC will reduce the loan amount by that fraction.

The PDC estimates that its loan leverages $17.29 for every $1 of its investment. In addition to the projected 400 new jobs (which are expected to provide an average salary of $80,000), Daimler’s investment is expected to support the retention of 1,574 additional family-wage jobs. The PDC also estimates that over the next 15 years Daimler will pay approximately $38 million in property taxes on the new building.

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