Eight-Block Redo at Core of New Regional Center

PORTLAND-Preleasing is under way for a 100,000-sf office building at the Elements at Gateway, an eight-acre infill redevelopment here led by local developer Ted Gilbert that will rise across from the existing Fred Meyer Shopping Center and the Gateway Transit Center. Situated near the confluence of Interstate 84 and Interstate 205, the multi-phase project could include 800 residential units, 675,000 sf of office space and 118,000 sf of retail space in buildings that can rise as high as 150 feet. Located at Northeast 102nd and Pacific Avenue, the property is at the core of the Gateway District, the only area in the tri-county area designated as a regional center by the tri-county regional government here known as Metro. Because of its proximity to the two Interstates as well as existing and future light rail lines and bus lines, Metro officials predict the Gateway District will be the most accessible area in the region by 2017. In support of that, the city has designated the area an Urban Renewal District and it is gearing up to turn 102nd Avenue into a boulevard with landscaped medians, wider sidewalks, new lighting, and street furniture.”All roads lead to this little place called Gateway, making it an ideal location to build a truly sustainable district,” Gilbert tells GlobeSt.com. “They want to see a second Downtown created here.”Gilbert’s GMB Unlimited LLC is redeveloping the eight-block area with its development partner Grayco LLC. The first building will be a four-story 100,000-SF (net rentable) concrete and steel structure with retail on the ground floor and office on the upper floors. Designed by Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, it will meet the “silver” criteria for U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Walsh Construction is the contractor. Jack Gallagher of Norris Beggs & Simpson has the leasing assignment.Based on letters of intent and ongoing negotiations, Gilbert says about 50% of the building is in play, which is what it will take for a lender to finance construction of the estimated $20-million endeavor. “Office leasing folks tell us there is a pent-up demand for class A space in this area today; there hasn’t been one built here other than for an individual user in a long time and existing tenants there are outgrowing their space and want to remain in the district.”The retail space should not be hard to fill up either, as the site sits across from a thriving Fred Meyer shopping center, which is owned by PacTrust. That property, which totals some 32 acres, also is a great redevelopment opportunity, says Gilbert, one that could further transform the Gateway District into the new regional center that the City of Portland and Metro envision. TriMet, which runs the light rail and bus systems, also has five acres it wants to redevelop, and Oregon Clinic, a group of medical specialists, is developing an 80,000-sf medical office building at the transit center that will open in 2006.As for the eventual residential, Gilbert expects high demand given the multiple transportation options and the district’s location in the center of the urban area east of Interstate 5, including Clark County in nearby Southwest Washington State. Gilbert says the housing will everyone from “baggage handlers to pilots, senior downsizers to young families, all in an urban district meant to represent how good transit oriented development could be.”