PORTLAND-Venerable Properties has pre-leased 52% of the Telegram Building, kick-starting a multi-million renovation of the landmark property at Southwest 11th and Washington Street in Downtown Portland.

Topped by a clock tower and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Georgian Revival-style, three-story brick building was built in 1922 for lease to the Portland Telegram, the City's evening daily newspaper at the time. The building and the rest of the block are owned by the Nathan Family, which hired Portland-based Venerable Properties in early 2001 to execute the renovation and lease up.

To secure financing for the $8 million project, however, Venerable needed a tenant to commit to at least 50% of the building. They landed it last month, when the owner of the Nelson's Nautilus health club currently in the basement of the Governor Hotel signed a 17,500-sf 10-year lease that commences next spring for the first two floors of the building.