The edge of the Pearl

Went to see a building this week, right on the edge of the Pearl District. Bummers: it is right by the 405 freeway so there is a lot of traffic noise, it has no current green space, the windows don’t open, it is currently listed with a $5mil price tag. Greatnesses: It is right on the street car line making field trips with the kids an easy fun thing, it is the perfect amount of space at 10,000sqft a floor and 2 floors, the ceilings are nice and high, it is relatively open inside with tons of natural light, it sits in an area of Portland where the PDC would love to see a school (according to an unofficial source the mayor would welcome a school in the area and there would be funds available to make the building what it needs to be for a school’s use – in other words we would not have to fight the city, we would have their support), it has a parking lot, it has an LA fitness right across the street that might be willing to share facilities with us, there is a new park that is going in 2 blocks away, and the BEST part is that the owners of the building want to see us in there and are very excited to keep the building what it is instead of changing it into a glass and concrete tower like so many other buildings in the Pearl.

Next steps: take our architect through the space and get his take on it today. Have our architect and the owner’s architects talk number and see what it would cost to bring the 1929 building’s systems up to code for an educational use. Talk with the city about money that might be available for repurposing the space. Crunch all the numbers and plug them into our business plan to see if we can make it work. Is this “the one”?