City Downsizes Holman Building Revival

PORTLAND-The Portland Development Commission last spring traded the Oregon Department of Transportation $2.45 million for several properties on the east bank of the Willamette River, including the 80,000-sf Holman Moving and Storage building at 49 SE Clay St.

The ODOT properties are key to the city’s ongoing redevelopment of the east bank, which started with a riverfront esplanade that now provides views of Downtown from across the river. The properties fill the gap between the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the south end of the new Eastbank Esplanade, adjacent the Hawthorne Bridge and an old fire station that is being converted for use as a waterfront restaurant.

As part of its east bank plans, PDC staff last October recommended renovating the two-story, high-ceilinged Holman Moving and Storage building and leasing it up to businesses and organizations with river-related operations. The plan was to build a dock and then lease out the majority of the ground floor as a light watercraft center. The first-floor mezzanine and the second floor were to be leased out as office space.