Singer Properties and Jones Architecture are at work on a major renovation of Ten West, a five-story office and retail building in Portland’s West End.

The 110-year-old, 44,524-square-foot property at Southwest 10th Avenue and Washington Street was once known as the Mekka Building. Now named Ten West, it sold for $3.5 million in 2007, according to city records.

The quarter-block property, 1003-1017 S.W. Washington St., will be remodeled in accordance with its art deco motifs, said Alan Jones, principal architect at Jones Architecture.

“We’re restoring the stucco and the brick work, and putting in historically correct wood-framed windows,” he said.

Also, Portland’s Lango Hansen Landscape Architects has designed a new roof deck – an amenity desired by office tenants, Jones said.

An entrance on 10th Avenue will serve a basement space designed for use by a restaurant or a bar. A second entrance, on Washington Street, will serve office space in the upper four floors, which have long been vacant.

A seismic retrofit and upgrades to the building’s mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems are also part of the renovation.

The ground floor is home to retailers Frances May, Animal Traffic, Chrome and Backtalk. Employees of firms involved with the project said they could not comment on the retailers’ future in the building, but added that they were not aware of any plans to end the retailers’ presence. Building owners Dick and Don Singer could not be reached for comment.

The property may be ripe for redevelopment. Downtown’s West End is flourishing with trendy shops and restaurants. Across 10th Avenue from Ten West in the Pittock Block are multiple retailers, including feminist clothing shop Wildfang. Powell’s City of Books, one of Portland’s most enduring tourist draws, is only two blocks away. Tasty n Alder, Heart Coffee Roasters and SuperBite also have found a home in the West End.

More development is coming. A skyscraper is on the drawing boards for Downtown Development Group’s property at Southwest 11th Avenue and Washington Street.

Central City office space remains a sought-after commodity, said Patricia Raicht, senior vice president for research at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Almost 1.5 million square feet of office space was delivered in the Portland market in 2016, and 85 percent was pre-leased or committed by the time of delivery, she said.

“While we added quite a bit of space, the demand for that space has been pretty strong,” Raicht said.

Tech firms including Puppet Labs, Act-On Software, New Relic and Google have invested in downtown Portland offices. But tech firms aren’t the only ones seeking modern, open-plan offices, Raicht said. Increasingly, legal, marketing and other professional services companies are looking for creative spaces that rival those made for tech firms.

In a recent JLL analysis of 2016 leases, creative spaces attracted prices 15 to 20 percent higher than comparable Class A spaces.

R&H Construction will be the general contractor for the Ten West project. Peter Andrews of Melvin Mark is the leasing agent.

Ten West

Location: 1003-1017 S.W. Washington St.

Size: 44,524 square feet

Owner: Singer Properties

Architect: Jones Architecture

General contractor: R&H Construction

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