Clean Tech Poised for Explosive Growth

John McCloud is editor of Industry Property Journal, from which this article is excerpted.

Hillsboro, OR—Earlier this month, a German solar panel manufacturer bought a 400,000-sf former computer chip manufacturing plant in this Portland suburb. The deal coincided with another solar power company’s decision to lease 175,000 sf in a reconditioned factory in Richmond, CA. Together, they underscore the rapidity with which solar energy is becoming a standard part of the industrial landscape.

In Hillsboro, Benaroya Co. and Real Property Investors, both of Seattle, sold the Oregon Technology Center to Solarworld AG of Bonn, Germany for $40 million. In Richmond, PowerLight, a subsidiary of San Jose-based SunPower Corp., finalized a lease in Ford Point, a 520,000-sf historic Ford Motor Co. assembly plant that Orton Development Inc. of Emeryville, CA is converting for contemporary use. SunPower executives say the 75-year-old building’s abundant windows that bring daylight to its interior space played a role in its location decision.