If the former Washington High School building in Southeast Portland were converted into housing, its central auditorium would likely have become a light well.

Instead, a $20 million renovation that transformed the residentially zoned building into a mix of office and retail space preserved the auditorium so that performances can return.

“We always thought it had to be housing,” said Jessica Engeman, a project manager and historic preservation specialist with Portland-based developer Venerable Properties. “It just didn’t feel like the right project for so many reasons.”

But scrapping the housing plans and keeping the auditorium intact presented a series of challenges for Venerable, investment partner PacTrust, project designer SERA Architects and general contractor Bremik Construction. Among the most significant were insulating sound produced in the auditorium from the surrounding 50,000 square feet of creative office space. The development team was also tasked with ensuring they could recoup the investment of transforming the former school auditorium into Revolution Hall, a modern, multipurpose event space.

Project team members covered these topics and others related to the effort to preserve and revitalize the 91-year-old Washington High building last week during a panel discussion in the freshly renovated auditorium.

“The room we’re sitting in right now was probably the thing I was most excited about – I love music – but also the thing I was most scared about,” said Eric Sporre, vice president of asset management at Portland-based PacTrust. “By and large, (for) our tenant base here it’s been a draw for the building.”

The discussion was part of an event showcasing the nearly complete renovation of the Washington High building hosted by the Urban Land Institute Northwest‘s Oregon and Southwest Washington Young Leaders Group and the Oregon chapter of the American Planning Association. Along with Engeman and Sporre, panelists included Bremik Construction President Brent Parry, SERA associate Steven Ehlbeck and Kevin Cradock, co-owner of Revolution Hall and Mississippi Studios, a North Portland concert venue. Jerry Chevassus, head of store development with New Seasons Market, also discussed the grocery chain’s decision to relocate its headquarters to the building.

The school closed in 1981 because of declining enrollment. When Venerable and PacTrust purchased the property from Portland Public Schools in late 2013 with plans to renovate the building, it had sat vacant for decades.

Venerable’s late founder, Art DeMuro, was an ardent historic preservationist who became captivated by the former school building and wanted to see it restored, Engeman said.

“Before he became sick with cancer, this was really a development that caught his eye,” she said.

DeMuro’s goal to preserve the building drove the way it was renovated, Engeman said. She recently submitted a nomination for the building to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Much of the original school finishes were preserved, including lockers, blackboards, classroom clocks, cabinets and intercoms.

“There was no doubt that the classroom spaces were going to maintain their classroom character,” Ehlbeck said. “That was a very clear mandate.”

The auditorium was also carefully preserved; many of the wooden seats were restored. Cradock said he was immediately attracted to the space and saw the potential for it to host concerts and other events.

“We had dozens and dozens of conversations with Venerable about how we could curate the venue,” he said. “This town doesn’t really have a world class, state-of-the-art concert venue and now it does … It would be a shame if this was a light well. When you hear a concert in this room you’ll really understand.”

The tricky part was making sure the venue penciled out financially, Cradock said. Adding a roof deck to the building with panoramic views of downtown Portland and renting it out for weddings and other private events has helped, he said.

“The roof deck kind of padded the economics for us,” Cradock said. “It’s the best view in Portland, bar none.”

Creating the roof deck took a leap of faith that appears to be paying off, Sporre said.

“You’re also spending big money on something you don’t know has any revenue stream on it,” he said.

The roof deck was a larger investment, but the development team found other ways to save, Sporre said. A minimally invasive renovation that preserves much of the existing building kept costs down because no seismic upgrade was needed, he said.

As with any older building, there were surprises as construction crews pulled away portions of the former Washington High School, Parry said.

“Historical renovations are always challenging because you’re working on an existing building and there’s always constraints on what you can and cannot do,” he said.

The project team spent a significant amount of time figuring out how to keep the noise in the auditorium out of the office spaces, Ehlbeck said. To resolve this, a spring isolated ceiling was installed in the auditorium and doors were insulated heavily.

Chevassus said New Seasons officials weren’t bothered by the idea of sharing a building with a concert venue.

“We actually went through a sound test almost before most of the improvements and we thought, ‘We can live with this,’ ” Chevassus said.

Cradock said Revolution Hall will do its best to be a courteous neighbor to the office tenants.

“It’s still a science experiment, but something that I think will be very successful,” he said.

The post Mixing business with pleasure appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Urban Land Institute Northwest next month will host a tour and panel discussion highlighting redevelopment of the former Washington High School in Southeast Portland into offices and event space.

The “School is in Session: Washington High Panel & Tour” event will take place on April 2 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the former school, 1300 S.E. Stark St. A panel discussion featuring renovation team members will take place in Revolution Hall, a new performance venue in the school’s former auditorium. Following the talk, light refreshments will be served and event participants will be able to tour the , which retains many original school elements, such as lockers, clocks and chalkboards.

The panel discussion will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and be moderated by Portland architect Paul Falsetto. Panelists will include: Brent Parry, president of general contractor Bremik Construction; Eric Sporre, vice president of project investor PacTrust; Jerry Chevassus, head of store development for building tenant New Seasons Market; Jessica Engeman, project manager and historic rehabilitation specialist for building owner and developer Venerable Group; and Steven Ehlbeck, an associate with design firm SERA Architects.

The cost of the event is $10 for ULI members and $15 for nonmembers. The deadline to register online is March 31.

Visit to learn more about the event and register.

The post Tour, panel discussion on tap at redeveloped high school appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A 90-year-old former school being renovated in Southeast Portland is set to have a new class of tenants by early 2015.

Washington High School is on track to have 80 percent of its office space leased by the end of October, Venerable Properties President Craig Kelly said.

Two anchor tenants are on board already, Kelly said. New Seasons Market has leased 33,500 square feet of office space to hold its corporate headquarters, and Copious – a digital design agency – has leased 10,500 square feet.

Three smaller companies – Walker Tracker, Murmur Creative and Arch Rival 4Ever – have all signed leases for spaces between 900 and 1,400 square feet, and Kelly said lease agreements with a couple of other small prospective tenants are in the works.

“We are in negotiations with three medium-sized tenants,” he said. “I consider medium-sized to be about 2,000 to 6,000 square feet.”

Venerable Properties has secured lease agreements for about 60 percent of the 83,000 square feet available in the ex-school, Kelly said.

The renovation was scheduled for completion by Nov. 1, but Kelly said the team now is planning to finish by the end of the year.

“The smaller tenants will move in in January because we’re building a lot of turn-key spaces for them,” he said. “The bigger tenants, because their spaces will require more (tenant improvements), will have move-in dates of February or March.”

The $18 million renovation of the building at Southeast Stark Street and 14th Avenue began in October 2013 and includes work on a 500-seat auditorium and a 2,700-square-foot rooftop deck.

The project team has run into a host of challenges, but that’s what makes renovation fun, Kelly said.

“That’s the blessing and the curse of renovating historic buildings,” he said. “We come across the issues, address them, and move on.”

The post Tenants filing into Washington High School appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Nine months after work began on the redevelopment of Washington High School, the 117,000-square-foot building is taking shape as a future creative office, retail, and event/concert space. The renovation work is being done by Bremik Construction for owner/developer Venerable Group. SERA Architects is serving as the project’s designer.

Major work includes a full seismic upgrade, new electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems, restoration of the 500-seat theater at the building’s center, and construction of a rooftop patio. Work on the core and shell is slated for completion this November, while tenant improvements will carry on through early 2015.

The post Photos: Inside Washington High School appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

In February, Venerable Group President Craig Kelly had doubts about how Washington High School‘s 500-seat auditorium could become a concert venue similar to the Crystal Ballroom or the Alberta Rose Theatre. But he is now moving ahead with plans to retain the space’s historic character and create “the best music venue in the metro area.”

Venerable, the leader of the $18 million renovation to redevelop the 90-year-old building in Southeast Portland, has hired an acoustical engineer to improve and contain sounds within the auditorium.

“The goal is not to disturb tenants who are not part of the auditorium,” Kelly said. “We’re very excited about it and we’re moving full tilt toward a renovation.”

The auditorium will not change significantly, he said. The stage will become a bit smaller, but the sloped floor and seating will remain.

A new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system will be installed, as will a specially engineered ceiling system to prevent sounds from traveling between floors. Other steps are being taken as well, Kelly said.

“We’re spending a small fortune on these doors to ensure soundproofing,” he said. “It creates a better sound inside and helps deaden sound from leaving.”

Kelly is expecting to be able to announce by August the operator responsible for some of the tenant improvement finishes. He is hoping to turn the auditorium over to the new tenant by the end of the year.

The rest of the project will finish by Nov. 1, Kelly said. The rooftop deck and an elevator shaft are being framed this summer.

All four floors have drawn strong interest from potential office tenants, he said. The ground floor also could have a restaurant, a coffee shop and a bar. People can learn more about the project and leasing opportunities at .

The post Washington High School auditorium upgrade at ‘full tilt’ appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

As renovation of Washington High School continues, the Southeast Portland historic landmark is sharing plenty of surprises.

“Always in historic renovations there are surprises,” said Craig Kelly, president of Venerable Properties. “Fortunately, most of these surprises have been positive. The fun part is finding little nuggets of treasure as we proceed.”

Washington High School, which replaced a school that burned in 1922, was built entirely of concrete and red brick. When it was completed in 1924, it featured a large auditorium at its center, wide corridors and light-filled stairwells.

The building, vacant since the 1980s, drew the attention of Venerable Properties, which specializes in historic renovations and adaptive reuse. Founder Art DeMuro and Kelly began planning for its revitalization in 2009. First, though, they had to buy the property from Portland Public Schools and obtain approvals to transform the historic school into a mix of office, retail and community space.

“The bureaucratic process of the transaction was very lengthy and sometimes difficult in the time it took to proceed,” Kelly said. “We had a lot of hoops to jump through for the city and the Historic Landmarks Commission. We were successful, but it took a lot of time, money and resources.”

When DeMuro died in 2012, Kelly was determined to carry the project forward. He gained the support and financial backing of PacTrust and, last October, finalized the purchase agreement with Portland Public Schools.

“I’ve always known the project was going to be successful; I just needed someone like Art who had the confidence in me and could see the forest through the trees,” Kelly said. “I was very fortunate to find a great partner in PacTrust to step in where I needed the help and kind of fill that void that Art left. For that, I’m very grateful.”

This November, the building will offer 20,000 square feet of retail space and 55,000 square feet of office space. The renovation also includes new heating and cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, as well as a new freight elevator. The building will be fully ADA accessible.

The historic auditorium is designated for community use, most likely for performances and corporate events. In addition, the 2,600-square-foot roof deck – with views of downtown Portland – will be available for tenant use and event rentals.

“It’s a fun project and we’re thrilled that we’re bringing this 90-plus-year-old community asset back to life,” Kelly said.

The post 2014 Newsmakers: Craig Kelly appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Over thirty years after students last walked its halls, the 117,000-square-foot Washington High School building is going to see a new life as a retail, office, and event space. Venerable Properties expects to start work later this month on the $18 million project, which will preserve the building’s historic character and give a nod to its history as a school.

The post A look inside Washington High School appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Redevelopment plans for long-vacant Washington High School are expected to be set soon, after its future use is determined, according to Venerable Properties President Craig Kelly.

“Our first priority is to save the building and preserve it, but to do that we have to do something that also makes sense financially,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to be sensitive to all the stakeholders, and there are a lot that care about this property.”

The present owner, Portland Public Schools, required the prospective buyer, Venerable, to secure a historic designation for the building, place it on the National Register of Historic Places or draft a deed restriction that would prevent demolition. Venerable recently obtained a designation from the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission.

Redevelopment plans for Washington High School have progressed significantly as a result, Kelly said, but unique site challenges – including limitations related to zoning and preservation – have prevented the firm from settling on a future use.

“It’s very hard to pencil,” Kelly said. “We’re going to have to pick a direction.”

In April 2012, when Venerable was close to purchasing the property, the plan was to convert the building into multifamily housing. Ten pricing proposals were presented, Kelly said; however, none has led to an agreement.

One of the main problems is that approximately half of the 116,000-square-foot building is common area. Some of that space, such as the 400-seat auditorium and the 14- to 18-foot hallways, are expected to be preserved under the building’s historic designation.

“In protecting the building under the designation, there are more restrictions in terms of what you can do internally to alter the framework of the building,” said Susan Lindsay, chairwoman of the Buckman Community Association. “I hope there is some flexibility because … it will need some work to bring it back to the fine building it is going to become.”

As a result, only about 56,000 square feet of the building can be redeveloped. Finding uses for the hallways and the auditorium will be difficult, especially if an all-housing plan were chosen, Kelly said.

The firm is exploring other options, such as converting the bottom floor into housing and the upper floor into commercial space. Another possibility would be a conversion of the entire building into commercial space, perhaps with retail included.

Venerable is hoping to transform the auditorium into a community asset, Kelly said.

Buckman residents would like to see the building become mostly housing, but they are open to other uses if they would fit the neighborhood, Lindsay said.

“We thought the whole place was going to be residential, so we’ve wanted a residential component all along,” she said. “(We want something) to provide some stabilization to that area.”

One worry among residents is that a heavy commercial or retail development would bring more motor vehicles to the area, which already is poised to gain traffic from a planned $47 million community center next to the school.

However, with only half of the building to work with, a conversion to mostly housing may be difficult, Kelly said.

“It’s a challenge to figure out a plan that is cost-effective to renovate an entire building where you can only get half the building’s rent,” he said. “I’m trying to keep the costs earthbound as opposed to up in the stratosphere.”

Another challenge presented by the property is that it’s zoned R1. It can have one housing unit per 1,000 feet, but financing can be difficult and there are restrictions in terms of commercial uses, Kelly said.

Venerable is weighing whether to apply for a zoning change for the property, but that process would likely be long and difficult.

“It just adds another wrinkle to the mix,” Kelly said. “This is already a very difficult financing environment for any commercial development.”

The plan is to decide within the next two months on a use or uses for the building, and then address potential zoning issues.

Project stakeholders ranging from developers to neighboring residents have remained positive, partly in tribute to Venerable’s late founder, Art DeMuro, who pushed for the redevelopment.

“We had a very close relationship with Art DeMuro, and I personally was devastated when we lost him,” Lindsay said. “And the show must go on.”

The post Future use for Washington High School still undecided appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

While details surrounding the redevelopment of Washington High School are still being finalized, a proposal to construct a $47 million community center nearby is steadily moving ahead.

On Monday, a conditional use application for the center will go before the city’s hearings officer. If it were approved, Portland Parks & Recreation would have a 10-year window to build the center.

“It’s been through a long community process over the last two years, and we expect support Monday for approval of the use,” said Brett Horner, planning and strategy manager for the parks bureau.

The 60,000-square-foot community center would hold an indoor aquatic facility, a gymnasium, a child care facility and possibly a track. A 168-space underground parking lot would be built underneath.

The building’s exterior – brick, with concrete banding and large windows – would match the school’s, said Lisa Petterson, project manager for .

The idea of building a community center on the site has floated around since the parks bureau purchased 4.5 acres there in 2004. Six years later, a plan arose for development of the school and the community center together; however, the project was put on hold when the parks bureau decided not to pursue a bond and Portland Public Schools started seeking bids for the school from outside developers.

Today, it is unclear where money for the community center would come from. A bond or a levy may be the best option, Horner said, particularly as the economy starts to improve. Additionally, project designs by SERA Architects have been adapted so construction could take place in phases, with the aquatic facility first.

“Any lack of certainty for this project has mainly been related to the Washington High School building’s fate and whether or not a community center would be part of the high school building,” said Susan Meamber, project manager for the parks bureau. “As a result of the decision not to pursue a bond, it became clear that it would not be possible to include community center activities in the high school building.”

In March, , a Portland development company, reached an agreement with Portland Public Schools to convert the high school into housing units. That effort is in its due-diligence period, according to company president Art DeMuro. He is considering pursuit of a historic designation for either the school or the Buckman neighborhood, to possibly reduce the project’s cost.

The center would help the parks bureau achieve its vision for establishing a community center within three miles of all Portland residents. Presently, that radius applies to approximately 70 percent of residents, Horner said.

“There’s a sliver of town that transcends this Buckman area that is not served by a community center,” he said. “It’s really important that we get there in terms of getting everyone within that service radius, and this furthers that goal.”

The center would provide much-needed exercise and child care facilities, said Susan Lindsay, land use chairwoman of the Buckman Community Association. Although the group has waited a long time for construction to start, 2010 was not a good time to pursue a bond, she said.

“I didn’t want them to,” Lindsay said. “We all know the economy has been very difficult for the residents of Portland to adjust to over the past couple of years.”

Without funding set, bureau officials are unsure when the project would be built and how much of it would be built within the 10-year span. However, area residents are confident that it will be constructed soon.

“(The bureau) says it’s not a matter of if, but instead a matter of when,” Lindsay said. “At some point they will build it, and they will want to attend to some other pressing needs.”

The post $47M community center on Washington High School site moves forward appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

and Portland developer Art DeMuro have reached a tentative agreement for the sale of long-vacant Washington High School in inner-Southeast Portland.

If the school board were to agree at its next meeting, on April 23, to sell the historic building to for $2 million, DeMuro, the company’s president, would move ahead with plans to convert the high school into multifamily housing.

DeMuro and people who live near the school building are generally thrilled that it may finally be reused. But the latest agreement comes after several failed redevelopment attempts, tempering the excitement until the deal becomes final.

“It’s been a long process, but I understand that the school district has had more urgent issues to deal with,” DeMuro said. “As a citizen and as a PPS parent, I accept that. As a developer, I’ve been antsy. But I know my place in the queue.”

DeMuro became interested in the property in 2008 as the building, constructed in 1924, revealed increasing deterioration. At that time, however, he wasn’t looking to purchase the property; he described those early investigations as the work of a “concerned preservationist.”

But Venerable Properties eventually began working on a plan to create market-rate housing on the four-story building’s upper floors and a community center on the ground floor. That deal fell through when Portland Parks and Recreation announced in 2010 that it would not pursue a bond measure, which would have been a primary source of funding for the project.

Prior to the collapse of that deal, proposed a housing plan for Washington High, but was unable to make the project pencil out.

PPS interviewed four developers in January 2011, and decided to begin negotiations with Venerable Properties the next month.

“We are very excited to bring that building back to life; it’s time to get some people in there,” said Susan Lindsay, president of the . “But first things first – we’re looking to the (school board) to approve this sale. They’re very much in need of cash and facing the possibility of closing more schools and cutting teachers, so I think it’s an excellent time to move forward now.”

After shuttering Washington High in 1981, PPS used it for administrative purposes until about a decade ago. The property at Southeast Stark Street and 11th Avenue has since received little attention except from skateboarders, dog walkers and the , which has used the space for temporary art installations.

“The neighborhood is really excited that something is going to finally happen with the building after 30 years,” said Tim Askin, a Buckman resident and a consultant to the .

The association has worked for years to nominate a portion of the neighborhood for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Such a listing would help DeMuro secure tax credits for redevelopment, but he will nevertheless pursue an individual listing for Washington High School in order to protect against potential demolition, as well as access special assessments and historic tax credits tied to the designation.

“On this project, we need every financial incentive we can get to make it feasible,” DeMuro said.

He has neither started work on any architectural plans nor pinned down details for the housing.

“Everything has been in the freezer,” he said. “We’ve limited the investment of time until we’re under contract; once that is approved, I’ll get to work on it.”

Just to get the building up and running, the project team must address decades of deferred maintenance, complete overdue seismic upgrades and adhere to historic guidelines. Then the team will need to decide how to transform the building – which is laid out with classrooms around a large, central auditorium – into attractive living spaces.

But the community members who have been most involved in past plans for the building are confident that now is the right time and that Venerable Properties is the right developer to take on the challenge.

Lindsay, who led the Washington High Community Center advisory committee through the last redevelopment attempt, hopes that DeMuro’s personal commitment to the project will help overcome the biggest challenges.

“It’s going to take a lot of passion to bring Washington High back online,” she said. “(DeMuro) has the most experience and the heart needed to understand and to get passionate about this project. It’s going to be a big job, but I have faith that he’s got what it takes.”

The post Washington High School soon to sell; to be converted into housing appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.