{"id":22392,"date":"2019-07-30T12:17:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T10:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/?p=22392"},"modified":"2025-04-15T17:03:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T14:03:01","slug":"office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/","title":{"rendered":"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Public<\/a>

Public Service Building, 920 SW 6th Avenue, Portland, OR<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The Public Service Building<\/a> in downtown Portland is a 16-story office building with a rich history.<\/p>\n

The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past. It was originally built to house the offices of the Pacific Power and Light Company and the Portland Gas and Coke Company \u2013 both \u201cpublic services.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main power plant for the city was originally located in the building\u2019s basement. Now, the space houses the city\u2019s main power feeds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Built in 1927, the Public Service Building originally consisted of a 16-story body with a two-story north and south wing either side of the central section. The building was later extended, and its wings reached their present height of 12 stories in 1957.<\/p>\n

Further renovations occurred in 1973 when a new metal roof was installed to replace the building\u2019s original red-tile roof. The building\u2019s four red and green neon signs were also removed, which read: \u201cheat\u201d, \u201cgas\u201d, \u201cpower\u201d and \u201clight\u201d in different directions.<\/p>\n

The Goodman family reportedly<\/a> purchased the Public Service Building for $3 million in 1992 and proceeded with their own makeover in 1999, a $20 million overhaul focused on reducing the energy costs of the 265,000 square foot building. The aim was to reduce energy costs by $160,000 per year<\/a> using new and more efficient technologies.<\/p>\n

Architecture and The Public Service Building<\/h2>\n
\"Public<\/a>

Public Service Building, 920 SW 6th Avenue, Portland, OR<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The Public Service Building was primarily designed by Charles K. Greene and built by American architect A.E. Doyle. It was the third of three similar Italianate buildings in the Portland area, including the Pacific Building and Bank of California Building.<\/p>\n

However, Greene left Portland before the building was completed and Pietro Belluschi completed the project. A.E. Doyle died three weeks after the building opened in January 1928.<\/p>\n

The ground three floors are faced with grey terra cotta and the upper floors in grey brick. The details and cornices are also in terra cotta.<\/p>\n

The Public Service Building was also home to the first Nike retail store, which opened on the ground floor of the structure in 1990. It subsequently closed in October 2011, moving to a different location in the city.<\/p>\n

Details<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Price: $28.5 – $29\/Sqft\/Year<\/li>\n
  • City: Portland<\/li>\n
  • Neighborhood: Downtown Portland<\/li>\n
  • Zip Code: 97204<\/li>\n
  • Market: Portland<\/li>\n
  • Property Type: Office – Office Building<\/li>\n
  • Building Size: 265,000 Sqft<\/li>\n
  • Lot Size: 0.46 Acre<\/li>\n
  • Building Class: B<\/li>\n
  • Year Built: 1927<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Property photos courtesy of Yardi Matrix. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Public Service Building in downtown Portland is a 16-story office building with a rich history. The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past. It was originally built to house the offices of the Pacific Power and Light Company…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":23786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4014,39],"tags":[2725],"class_list":["post-22392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-office","tag-cre-resources","wpautop"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOffice Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon - CommercialCafe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CommercialCafe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-30T10:17:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T14:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gemma Church\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@geditorial_uk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gemma Church\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/\",\"name\":\"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon - CommercialCafe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-30T10:17:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T14:03:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83a84d89b386e9dd6351ff6e70751351\"},\"description\":\"The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"CommercialCafe\",\"description\":\"Your Commercial Real Estate Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83a84d89b386e9dd6351ff6e70751351\",\"name\":\"Gemma Church\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c8b72ea75f5ad7ced2d2473c15a91b42a139b68fdeaacef12d6b935937b305b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c8b72ea75f5ad7ced2d2473c15a91b42a139b68fdeaacef12d6b935937b305b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gemma Church\"},\"description\":\"Gemma Church is \\\"the freelance writer who gets tech\\\". A specialist journalist, blogger and copywriter for the science and technology sectors.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.geditorial.com\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/geditorial_uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/author\/gemma-church\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon - CommercialCafe","description":"The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon","og_description":"The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/","og_site_name":"CommercialCafe","article_published_time":"2019-07-30T10:17:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-15T14:03:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gemma Church","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@geditorial_uk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gemma Church","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/","name":"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon - CommercialCafe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-30T10:17:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T14:03:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83a84d89b386e9dd6351ff6e70751351"},"description":"The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and its name gives us a clue about its past.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg","width":1280,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/office-building-week-public-service-building-portland-oregon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Office Building of the Week: The Public Service Building, Portland, Oregon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/","name":"CommercialCafe","description":"Your Commercial Real Estate Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83a84d89b386e9dd6351ff6e70751351","name":"Gemma Church","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c8b72ea75f5ad7ced2d2473c15a91b42a139b68fdeaacef12d6b935937b305b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c8b72ea75f5ad7ced2d2473c15a91b42a139b68fdeaacef12d6b935937b305b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gemma Church"},"description":"Gemma Church is \"the freelance writer who gets tech\". A specialist journalist, blogger and copywriter for the science and technology sectors.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.geditorial.com\/","https:\/\/x.com\/geditorial_uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/author\/gemma-church\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/shutterstock_562037761_Featured-image.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22392"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42271,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392\/revisions\/42271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}