The Oregonian Building Getting Creative Office Makeover

Seattle-based real estate firm Urban Renaissance Group (URG) unveiled plans this month for an extensive renovation at the former headquarters of The Oregonian at 1320 SW Broadway in Portland. Portland-based Allied Works Architecture redesigned the 286,000-square-foot building, The Oregonian's home of more than six decades, to transform it into the largest single block of creative office space available in downtown, according to a Portland Business Journal article. Brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle announced this week it's marketing the building to tenants, who could move in by early 2016.

Urban Renaissance Group, in a partnership with New York investment firm Clarion Partners, paid $14.15 million for the property in September 2014, with "plans to spend an even greater amount on the extensive renovation." The six-story structure was designed by renowned Italian-born architect Pietro Belluschi, and originally constructed in 1948. "Belluschi led the Modern movement in American architecture and this building is one of the real treasures among the thousand or so buildings he designed in his lifetime," Brad Cloepfil, founding principal of Allied Works, said in a release. "It's a tremendous opportunity to be able to work on a design to reveal the work of a truly great architect in a modern context."

The plans call for converting the building's basement to an 80-vehicle garage, as well as an area to accommodate 100 or more bicycles with showers and other bike-commuting amenities. The west side of the building, facing Broadway, will also include some retail space. The building will total 165,000 square feet of rentable space.

"Our goal, with the team from Allied Works, is to open up the Broadway façade and reconnect the building to the neighborhood," said Tom Kilbane, head of URG's Portland office. "On the inside, by peeling back the layers of improvement, we will be exposing some of the most interesting office space that we've seen in Portland."

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