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Healthy Port Helps Portland Market Avoid Downturn

The port is a major contributor to the city's current luster.

By John McCloud | Updated on August 29, 2008

PORTLAND, OR-This month’s return of container service by the Tokyo-based “K” Line to the Port of Portland comes at an auspicious time for the Portland industrial market. In the midyear rankings by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the city, generally considered a secondary if not tertiary market, moved up six places to become the nation’s fifth best industrial investment market. In addition to its overall ranking, the market shows up as ninth for projected 2008 completions, eighth for both occupancy and absorption levels and seventh for projected employment growth.

As Marcus & Millichap duly notes, the port is a major contributor to the city’s current luster. According to local officials, the port handled a record-breaking 15 million tons of marine cargo in the fiscal year ending June 30. The entire Portland harbor, including both the port and private enterprise along the Columbia and Willamette rivers, handled an estimated 21 million tons, roughly equivalent to figures for the larger ports of Oakland, CA and Seattle. But the Portland figure does not include data for the Port of Vancouver, WA, which lies directly across the Columbia River from the city and is considered part of the Portland market. Inclusion of that data would likely push the Portland area above Oakland and Seattle.

Historically, the Port of Portland has relied on exports more than imports, shipping farm and forest products to Asia. But last year for the first time imports nearly equaled exports, and planned dredging of the Columbia to allow passage of larger container vessels promises to further shift the balance, as it will enable the city to become more of a distribution center. For the present, however, the dependence on exports has no doubt helped keep the agency solvent, as the declining value of the dollar boosts demand for US output overseas.

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