Portland opera General Director Robert Bailey tells GlobeSt.com that the 12,000-sf second floor will be marketed for lease until the Opera grows into the space. "We are pricing the space very very competitively with the idea we can get a tenant in there quickly," says Bailey. "We have a couple of very interested parties." Macadam Forbes' Greg Burpee, who represented the Opera in the acquisition, has the leasing assignment.

The Portland Opera plans to move into the building in May. Once it maxes out the building, Bailey says the Opera could then develop the adjacent parking lot to create more space. "It was an important part of the transaction," says Bailey.

Bailey says the Opera raised $3 million from a handful of major donors and financed the rest with a five-year loan from Stancorp Financial that carries an interest rate of just below 6%. Bailey says his organization hopes to raise the rest of the acquisition cost over the next several months and pay off the loan this summer.