Pamplin Communications is a locally based multimedia holding company with 18 metro area newspapers, including the Portland Tribune, and six radio stations. The renewal keeps occupancy at Pioneer Tower around 95%, says Tom Fellman, the CB Richard Ellis broker with the leasing assignment.

Except for one law firm that dissolved and vacated the 20,000-sf 10th floor, which remains available, Fellman says 100% of the tenants up for renewal this year have renewed their leases. Better yet, Fellman says in all cases they renewed at rates that are at or above what they were paying at the time their leases expired. "Pioneer Tower is in the center of Downtown and because people want to be here it has always been able to get a little premium," says Fellman.

Fellman declined to reveal the lease rate on the Pamplin transaction. The annualized full-service asking rate for space in the building is $23 per sf. Net effective rents on new deals in the building are probably within 10% of that figure, local brokers tell GlobeSt.com.