"The building was a patchwork of systems," says owner William Emery. "To make it a safe and efficient building, the infrastructure needed to be reworked from the boiler to the bottom line."

For example, Emery says the steam boiler was a cast iron sectional type, was 14 years old and in poor condition. It was replaced with a trio of high-efficiency, condensing hot water boilers, which increased the efficiency from 60% to 90%.

"As landlords are faced with increased utility costs, these improvements will give the Oregon Trail Building a competitive advantage by offering lower operating costs, resulting in our ability to offer the market reasonable rates for quality product," says Norris, Beggs & Simpson's Sean Turley, a sales associate representing Emery's Oregon Trail Building, which has 8,000 sf available for lease. "Inefficient buildings will have to make up the difference through rent increases."