Gerding Edlen Pays $132M for Historic Portland Asset

Power and Light Building

Beacon Capital has sold the Power + Light Building, a 265,000-square-foot Class B office mid-rise in Portland, Ore., to Gerding Edlen for $131.5 million, according to Yardi Matrix data. The seller had owned the 16-story property, also known as the Public Service Building, for more than 25 years, paying $3 million for the structure in mid-1992.

The seller had extensively renovated the property in 1999, per Yardi Matrix data, with additional updates completed in 2018. Following the improvements, the building now has an upgraded lobby and a modern amenity mix including a conference center, rooftop deck and fitness center.

Located at 920 S.W. Sixth Ave., the building is in the heart of downtown Portland, half a mile from Interstate 405 and five blocks west of the Willamette River. The mid-rise is three blocks west of 250 Taylor, a nearly 200,000-square-foot ground-up development which sold in October for $141.3 million, Yardi Matrix shows.

The Power + Light Building was constructed in 1928 as the city’s primary electric station. Today, the structure is home to a diverse mix of tenants. WeWork, the largest, occupies 70,190 square feet across five floors. The property’s tenant mix also includes TVA Architects, Beech Creek Financial Group and Gallatin Public Affairs. In addition to its office component, the building has approximately 11,000 square feet of above- and below-ground retail space.