National Meeting Co. Closes on Future HQ

PORTLAND-National Meeting Co., a locally based event logistics business has purchased the 32,000-sf former Ruth Ashbrook Bakery at 6360 NE Martin Luther King Blvd., which it will renovate for use as its new headquarters. The company is currently located at 1108 SE Grand Ave., where it employs 30 people. The move is scheduled to occur this summer.The long-blighted property was purchased from the Portland Development Commission, the city’s urban renewal agency, which financed 96% of the $1.2-million purchase price at a 3% interest rate, a PDC spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com. Payments on the 10-year loan are based on a 25-year amortization, according to the spokesperson, which means a balloon payment will be due at the end of the term. In addition to the financing, National Meeting Co. received $219,000 in incentive funds tied to job creation through PDC’s Economic Opportunity Fund and also has entered into an Enterprise Zone Agreement with the PDC. The EOF fund is designed to assist business to encourage quality job growth in business start-ups and expansion, to revitalize neighborhoods and to build community wealth within an urban renewal area. The program also aims at assisting businesses to revitalize vacant or underutilized commercial buildings. The Enterprise Zone is a public/private partnership program managed by PDC that provides a five-year property tax abatement on new investment and, in certain cases, a 25% state income/excise tax credit in exchange for meeting job creation and other requirements aimed at business creation within North/Northeast Portland. The bakery redevelopment plan calls for conversion of the older section of the building along MLK Jr. Boulevard into a naturally lit, open-area office and conference space. New doorways will connect the conference and office spaces with the warehouse to the east. A new entry and lobby/reception area will be added to the southwest corner of the building and will include a tinted glass wall along MLK Jr. Boulevard.