PORTLAND-Portland-based ScanlanKemperBard Cos. closed on its first Portland purchase late last week, paying $20.76 million for Uptown Shopping Center, a residential and retail development at 23rd and Northwest Burnside that includes a fully leased 72,000 sf shopping center, 47 apartment units and a “potentially developable pad” of about 55,000 sf.

SKB acts as a fiduciary for approximately 225 investors representing more than $115 million in real estate investment. Since 1996, the firm has acquired 35 projects in the Western United States with an aggregate value of approximately $540 million.

Still, in addition to Uptown being the firm's first Portland purchase, it also is only the firm's fifth retail purchase. SKB used Lloyd Minton and Casey Davidson of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler's Portland office to source the loan for the acquisition. The seller of Uptown was Federal Realty Investment Trust of Rockville, Md. Federal Realty purchased the property in 1997 for around $16 million.