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

The post Revving up for a West End renovation appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Construction crews broke ground recently in Southwest Portland on a six-story building – one of three residential projects in a two-block area.

Bremik Construction started work on a 54,000-square-foot building that will be a mix of apartments and ground-floor live-work units, according to Kurt Schultz, a principal at SERA Architects, the firm that provided the design.

The $5 million project will have two live-work units, 60 apartments on the upper floors and 20 parking stalls on the ground floor.

“The exterior will be brick with bay windows that recalls the classic streetcar apartments that characterize the West End,” Schultz said. “The project will have a ground-floor common room and a rooftop deck that overlooks the (Portland State University) open space to the south.”

The 0.23-acre site in 2013 was purchased by Eugene-based W.V. Market View LLC for about $3 million, according to information filed with the city. Construction is scheduled to wrap up in March 2016.

Two other multifamily projects are proceeding nearby.

SERA Architects designed a nine-story building for a quarter-block site at Southwest 12th Avenue and Market Street. The L-shaped building will have 102 market-rate units – either studios, one-bedroom units, one-bedroom units with lofts or two-bedroom units.

Bremik Construction is working on the Cameron Apartments, an eight-story building at Southwest Clay Street and 12th Avenue. This $11.5 million project will provide 83 units – a mix of studios, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units.

The post Southwest Portland multifamily project starts appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Dinihanian Building in downtown Portland‘s West End is being remodeled into a retail store for Roche Bobois, a French high-end furniture seller. Skyline Interiors, Inc. is renovating the basement and first floor of the two-story building on Southwest Washington Street.

Work on the Waterleaf Architecture-designed project includes the installation of a new storefront façade, new HVAC, electrical, and fire sprinkler systems, sandblasting of the wooden truss ceiling and concrete walls, and refinishing of the building’s oak floors.  Work on the 8-week project is slated for completion at the end of September.

The post Photos: West End building undergoes renovation appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Downtown Portland‘s West End may be a burgeoning hot spot today, but Alix Nathan, one of the second-generation owners of the Mark Spencer Hotel, said that several years ago it was not so hot.

“We had all these security problems,” he said. “We had drugs. We had prostitution … I would come up myself and walk the block at night if I didn’t have security to try and keep that activity down.”

Now Nathan is preparing a hefty remodel of the West End’s Dinihanian Building to suit Roche Bobois, a French high-end furniture retailer. He sees the company’s arrival as a kind of bellwether for the area, and vindication for a long-term strategy that started 20 years ago – when all he could do was buy land and wait.

“In the ’90s, we acquired the buildings around the hotel because the neighborhood was so bad and it was the only way to provide a little more security for the hotel patrons,” he said. “We had prostitution in the street up until seven to eight years ago.”

In 1994, Nathan family members – who purchased the Mark Spencer Hotel in 1977 – bought the adjacent, 18,000-square-foot building at the corner of Southwest 12th Avenue and Stark Street. It was a parole office at the time. A few years later, they bought the Washington Plaza building and the Portland Telegram building on the same block. Over the course of two decades, they invested millions of dollars in methodical renovation work – sometimes at great risk.

“(The Portland Telegram Building) was a disaster for us,” Nathan said. “It nearly bankrupted our family and our company. It was terrible.”

Following a $6.5 million renovation of the Portland Telegram Building, its three main tenants fell on hard times and vacated – leaving Nathan without income to pay for the project. But the building eventually gained new tenants. Other property owners in the area have since followed with improvements of their own.

“It’s (the result of) a group of local property owners (and tenants) that all bought into the same vision,” said Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group.

For instance, Skylab principal Jeff Kovel’s remodel of the building at Southwest 12th Avenue and Alder Street brought in the popular restaurant �Ұ�ü�Ա��, and Goodman’s revamp of the building across the street brought in Tasty n Alder and Lease Crutcher Lewis. Also, Project Ecological Development renovated the Black Box on Southwest 13th Avenue, Nathan renovated Washington Plaza, McMenamins opened the Crystal Hotel and A&R Development opened the Ace Hotel.

Combined, those projects and others molded the West End into a marketable destination – especially for brunch.

“Saturdays and Sundays – we’re just slamming,” said Cheryl Casey, owner and co-founder of Cheryl’s on 12th.

One of the next big projects for the area will be Goodman’s new high-rise to mirror the 23-story Twelve | West a block away. Ideally, he would like to include housing on the top, some sort of hip hotel in the middle, and a market on the ground floor. He’s ready to start that project as soon as he has leases in hand.

“The unfortunate thing about the district is everyone wants to be here and there’s no more space,” he said.

Property owners also jointly hired street cleaners and security guards, and installed solar-powered BigBelly trash cans on the corners. Nathan is adamant about maintaining cleanliness – he said he’s inclined to pick up items such as empty cans as he walks by.

Another challenge Nathan and others faced in attracting high-end retailers to the area was balancing that activity with the many low-income housing units present – many that previously were hotbeds for crime, he said. Communication become critical – Nathan knows the names the longtime low-income tenants in his buildings by name.

“It’s great to have the diversity that we have as long as we can also keep the neighborhood safe and clean and business friendly,” he said. “That’s where businesses sometimes – retail businesses particularly – won’t come here if we have problems with safety, drugs or otherwise. I think for the most part we’ve really solved it.”

Roche Bobois officials think so too. They searched for space in Portland for approximately seven years before finding the “right” space in the Dinihanian Building, according to company representative Tyler Benz. Jon Kellogg, Kathleen Healy and Ashley Heichelbech of Commercial Realty Advisors Northwest presented Nathan with the prospect of Roche Bobois joining the building after realizing that the lease of the current tenant, Vinopolis, was about to expire. Vinopolis is relocating to 1610 N.W. Glisan St.

The remodel of the Dinihanian – the name of a family that previously operated an Oriental rug business in the building – will involve removal of existing canopies from the facade and creation of a larger glass storefront system. A series of metal fins will jut from the second-story windows, and with LED lights will make the building – at 1025 S.W. Washington St. – glow at night.

The existing “rug/carpet” rotating sign will be preserved and restored. Nathan expects work to begin later this month; Waterleaf Architecture is the project’s designer.

Nathan also has plans to convert the former parole building at Southwest 12th Avenue and Stark Street into creative office and retail space. He’s already garnered interest from Bamboo Izakaya, Kure Juice Bar and San Francisco-based bag manufacturer Timbuk2.

After waiting patiently, Nathan is glad to see his investments picking up steam.

“It’s a 35-year-plus, long-term vision,” he said. “We’re just starting to see it come together, but there’s a lot more to come.”

The post Portland’s West End turns a corner appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Portland’s West End is losing some of its nightlife, but gaining retail space in return.

The Red Cap Garage, a 25-year-old bar, and Aura, a 9-year-old nightclub, recently were purchased by Project Ecological Development. The bar and the club were next to each other, between West Burnside and Southwest Stark streets.

The development firm plans to merge the two one-story buildings into one large retail structure able to accommodate multiple tenants.

“We plan to create a retail development that utilizes the existing structure and shell of each building and creates a place that fits within the context (and) spirit … of the neighboring businesses,” said Jonathan Ledesma, a partner at Project Ecological Development.

The project is still in the design phase, so the firm declined to reveal any details or potential tenants. However, the buildings will undergo “laser-like surgery,” according to Ledesma.

Dan Zilka, who owned both properties and still owns other businesses in the area, said that he sold them to raise capital. However, he added that he wouldn’t have done so if he didn’t think the development plan would suit the area.

“From my understanding, the West End is becoming one of the most desirable retail destinations in Portland,” he said. “We thought it would be right.”

Ledesma agrees that the area is becoming a retail hotspot. In fact, he said the location is “the center of the center of great retail locations in the city,” which heavily influenced the firm’s decision to redevelop the properties.

The neighborhood surrounding Burnside and 10th Avenue has been known for its nightlife. Partygoers often visited both the Red Cap, one of the area’s oldest bars, and Aura, one of the city’s few nightclubs. Before he opened Aura, Zilka owned another club, Panorama, which was eventually replaced by Living Room Theaters; Panorama was the “hot spot” in Portland for years, he said.

But Ledesma said his firm’s project will bring something new to the neighborhood.

“The north side of Stark has been sleepy during the day as the Red Cap was a bar/club and the Living Room Theaters exterior wall does not directly engage the street,” he said. “(The project) will provide something new programmatically,” he said.

The project will be built in the same vein as Blackbox, a 10,000-square-foot mixed-use building the firm developed on Southwest 13th Avenue and Burnside, Ledesma said. Like that building, which has seven tenants, the West End one will use space and size to efficiently blend in with the neighborhood. It is unclear whether the building will look like the Blackbox; however, Ledesma said it would bring something “new, architecturally” to the area.

“Our project will complement the energy of the Ace (Hotel) on Stark, and Powell’s on Burnside,” he said.

Zilka does not plan to close the other businesses he owns around Burnside, such as the Fish Grotto. Money from the sale will go toward redevelopment of the Joyce Hotel storefront, he said.

Project construction is expected to start by the end of September, according to Ledesma.

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A small, local nonprofit is seeking to gain visibility by moving into Portland’s up-and-coming West End, and four of the region’s leading general contracting companies are casting aside old rivalries to help out.

The 419 Building on Southwest 10th Avenue is known for its checkerboard facade, but it has sat vacant for more than 10 years. Now, owner Richard Singer is rehabilitating the building, and the is planning to move its offices into the third-floor space next month.

But for PICA to take on the massive tenant improvement project, it needed to take advantage of the connections it has made in the construction industry since it was founded in 1995. In an unprecedented partnership, , , and all are donating labor and materials as they work together to transform the 5,900-square-foot interior space.

“It’s a unique collaboration – usually we’re competitors working for the same projects and the same types of clients,” said Bill Bezio, project manager for Howard S. Wright. “But it’s been very friendly and amicable. We’re looking out for each other’s interests and for PICA’s interests.”

Singer is planning to rehab the iconic facade and install storefront-style windows on the ground floor. But the empty building had no basic infrastructure when crews began to work on the third floor.

“We thought we’d get started on construction six weeks sooner, but there were a lot of infrastructure problems when we got in there,” said Victoria Frey, executive director of PICA.

The group initially wanted to move into the building by the end of 2011, but the move-in date was pushed to March because of delays related to gas lines, phone service and permitting issues.

The design, created by Eric Philps of , calls for an open, flexible layout that will accommodate offices for 10 staff members as well as a variety of artistic uses and small public events.

“Every designer in town has looked at that building and tried to figure out how to take advantage of what it has to offer,” said Philps, who is also vice-chairman of PICA’s board of trustees. “It’s exciting to see that space become something positive in the neighborhood.”

PICA signed a three-year lease with a three-year extension option at fixed terms that are significantly below market rates, according to Frey. The group had kept its offices in Wieden + Kennedy’s headquarters for nearly a decade, but it’s seeking to expand its presence and visibility by becoming the 419 Building’s anchor tenant.

The nonprofit also hopes to build out the 4,000-square-foot roof-top patio in time to host summer events, but plans and funding for that effort are still uncertain.

“We’re used to going into raw warehouse spaces where we have to repair the roof just to be in it,” Frey said. “That’s how we got a history of this type of ‘barn raising’ activity, and how we developed relationships with people in the construction industry.”

Frey cited an example from a few years ago, when PICA solicited Andersen Construction to build a black, octagonal structure for an event at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

“They all seem to enjoy the chance to work on creative projects,” she said. “Usually we’ll go to one (of the general contractors) and ask them to help us build walls in a warehouse in the southeast or something, but they’ve never all come together in this scope. It required all of them working together.”

The four companies divvied up the major tasks in the new space, and each brought on subcontractors to aid in the effort. Howard S. Wright, for instance, was tasked with the electrical work; the firm coordinated with five subcontractors that contributed time and materials to build out the raw space.

“It’s an interesting project situation from our perspective,” said Hal Pietrobono, senior project manager for , which has four offices in Oregon as well as one in Seattle and one in Billings, Mont. “It was very well-coordinated with the various electrical subs – we were able to get in and get what we committed to do in a timely manner.”

E C Co. has collaborated with Howard S. Wright on several prior pro bono projects for nonprofits, and this time the company contributed approximately $12,000 of time and materials, according to Pietrobono.

Walsh Construction acted as the general contractor for coordinating and scheduling purposes. The company also procured glass, secured contractors to take care of HVAC work and provided in-house carpentry. Lease Crutcher Lewis took care of plumbing and fixtures, and Andersen coordinated framing.

To complete the work, each general contractor brought on a team of subcontractors; they included , , , , , , , and .

All told, the unlikely coalition has donated more than $200,000 in time and labor to the renovation, according to PICA.

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Portland’s West End (you know, that area in downtown south of Burnside and west of the streetcar?) has been seeing a lot of retail activity lately. And as more retail tenants open in the area, some already established businesses are taking note of the West End’s heavy foot traffic – and cheaper rents.

Most recently, two retail shops planned to open in what used to be called the Portland Medical Building. , a hat store, is moving from the underground trenches of downtown’s Morgan’s Alley, and another store, , a women’s clothing boutique, is moving shop from is location in the Pearl District.

Both retailers said they were attracted to the spaces for their cheaper rents and higher foot traffic.

“I see a trend,” said broker Jordan Menashe with Menashe Properties. “I believe retailers see something in the West End. It’s a very, very busy area.”

It’s part of a larger trend of holes filling up in Portland’s West End. Across the street from Pinkham and Parallel is the pricey and trendy shop . Around the corner on 10th Avenue is and . Finnegan’s Toys recently moved into the Stevens Building a block away, the same building where Under U4 Men is opening its new expanded store. And another Pearl District shop, Dress Code, is planning to open in the 10W building on 10th Avenue and Washington Street.

In a sense, the retailers are making the move in tandem.

“Everybody knows everybody in the fashion community around here,” said Dana Pinkham, who owns Pinkham Millinery and talked about making the move with several retailers. “This is great timing for all of us.”

But to be fair to Menashe, he did his part in orchestrating the transition. He recently moved from Los Angeles to work with his father Barry, who owns the Portland Medical Building. Jordan gave a facelift to the interior of the building – by far not the prettiest in Portland – and he rebranded it as the 511 Building. Sure, plenty of patients come in and out of the building for dental appointments, etc., he theorizes, but now on their way out, they’ll be tempted to do some shopping. Maybe buy a hat.

And so far, even though the retailers’ rents are cheaper, their prices haven’t changed much. Good for the retailers; maybe not so great for you and me.

The post Is the West End the cheaper Pearl District? appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A sign on the building at 1022 W. Burnside St. reads “For Sale,” but nighttime revelers shouldn’t dismay just yet. Only the building is for sale, not the Aura nightclub.

The building has housed the nightclub since 2003. Aura plans to continue operating in the space after the sale. The 4,200-square-foot building is for sale at an asking price of $1.1 million.

Dan Zilka owns the building and club, as well as other buildings and nightclubs on the same block. He said he’s selling the building to raise some capital.

The Aura space is more like a lounge, with modern interior finishes and a swanky atmosphere. It also features a special lighting system that projects different colors on the walls.

Zilka bought the space, a former fabric warehouse, after he closed one of his former clubs, called Panorama, in the space now occupied by Living Room Theaters at Southwest Stark Street and 10th Avenue. Panorama was “the hot spot in Portland for 10 years – 10,000 square feet of fun and frolic,” Zilka said.

Zilka closed Panorama in 2002 and opened Aura soon after. Aura is more “polished,” he said.

“It was the first time I’ve ever done a total remodel from the ground up,” Zilka said.

That remodel included one feature that might comfort potential investors in a nightclub space: soundproofing. The building has triple-paned windows and a special roof.

“We put these special spaces in the roof in between the roof layers that captures sound because that was one of our issues with Panorama – a lot of sound escapes out of the roof,” Zilka said.

At night when music is blaring, only a dull roar escapes – at least until the doors open.

For details on purchasing the Aura building, contact broker Debbie Thomas of Debbie Thomas Real Estate at 503-226-2141 or deb@debbiethomas.com.

Block by Block is a weekly look at commercial real estate around Portland. Send suggestions for properties to BlockxBlock@djcOregon.com.

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The newest historic renovation for the McMenamins chain was available for a sneak peek party today. Patrons could walk the halls of the Crystal Hotel, taste wine and talk with the people who helped with the project.

The Crystal Hotel, 100-year-old building in Portland’s West End, has been under a renovation for more than a year. It’s almost finished – a few spots on the walls and some unassembled urinals remain – but the building feels like a McMenamins. It has bold colors, whimsical touches and clues to its rich past. Read more about the history and renovation of the Crystal Hotel.

The project is sustainable in that it is a historic preservation, but the renovation also included other green features. The wood used was made from recycled lumber, and the HVAC and cooking equipment was designed to be energy efficient and certified by Energy Trust of Oregon, according Joe Vondrak, president of Pacific Crest Construction, the general contractor. A below-ground soaking pool is filled with salt water, which is better for the environment than are chemicals. McMenamins also plans to add a garden to the building’s roof.

The building has five floors with 51 rooms. Most of those rooms are small and do not have bathrooms, only sinks – “European queen rooms,” they’re called. But each room is themed to a song that once played at the Crystal Ballroom, next door. The rooms are painted with borders of song lyrics, and paintings of musicians hang on the walls. Every bed also has an elaborately painted headboard.

The hotel has a cafe on the ground floor – Zeus Cafe, named for nightclub owners Nate and Tilly Zusman, who worked the seedy Desert Room in the 1950s and ’60s. Below, in the basement, is the soaking pool and a dark lounge area called Al’s Den. The lounge is named after Al Winter, a notorious gambling kingpin who frequented the hotel in the ’40s.

The halls and stairways of the hotel are lined with pictures of the property’s past – from its founding days in the 1800s to its time in the Gay Triangle during the ’70s and ’80s.

The hotel doesn’t officially open until May 3, but it’s worth a look. Rooms run $85 to $165 a night.

The post McMenamins Crystal Hotel offers sneak peek appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The newest historic renovation for the McMenamins chain was available for a sneak peek party today. Patrons could walk the halls of the Crystal Hotel, taste wine and talk with the people who helped with the project.

The Crystal Hotel, 100-year-old building in Portland’s West End, has been under a renovation for more than a year. It’s almost finished – a few spots on the walls and some unassembled urinals remain – but the building feels like a McMenamins. It has bold colors, whimsical touches and clues to its rich past. Read more about the history and renovation of the Crystal Hotel.

The project is sustainable in that it is a historic preservation, but the renovation also included other green features. The wood used was made from recycled lumber, and the HVAC and cooking equipment was designed to be energy efficient and certified by Energy Trust of Oregon, according Joe Vondrak, president of Pacific Crest Construction, the general contractor. A below-ground soaking pool is filled with salt water, which is better for the environment than are chemicals. McMenamins also plans to add a garden to the building’s roof.

The building has five floors with 51 rooms. Most of those rooms are small and do not have bathrooms, only sinks – “European queen rooms,” they’re called. But each room is themed to a song that once played at the Crystal Ballroom, next door. The rooms are painted with borders of song lyrics, and paintings of musicians hang on the walls. Every bed also has an elaborately painted headboard.

The hotel has a cafe on the ground floor – Zeus Cafe, named for nightclub owners Nate and Tilly Zusman, who worked the seedy Desert Room in the 1950s and ’60s. Below, in the basement, is the soaking pool and a dark lounge area called Al’s Den. The lounge is named after Al Winter, a notorious gambling kingpin who frequented the hotel in the ’40s.

The halls and stairways of the hotel are lined with pictures of the property’s past – from its founding days in the 1800s to its time in the Gay Triangle during the ’70s and ’80s.

The hotel doesn’t officially open until May 3, but it’s worth a look. Rooms run $85 to $165 a night.

The post McMenamins Crystal Hotel offers sneak peek appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.