Canal Plaza Renovations & New Mixed-Use Tower | Portland

" One Canal will be thoroughly reimagined through a $10 million capital improvement investment and the work of internationally renowned architect, Moshe Safdie "

This is confusing....A world-renowned architect is involved in renovating a 10-story low-rise office building? Or is he just involved in the landscaping and site design?? My impression is that he had been involved with proposed hotel tower.

Also....$10 million doesn't go as far as it used to. That figure probably leaves out the possibility of large-scale facade renovations to One, Two and Three Canal.
 
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A rendering from Malone Commercial Brokers. Appears to be a focus on retail and eateries which will increase the pedestrian activity on the plaza and add some new options in the center of downtown. The opening of 201 Federal Street will bring in over 300 new residents nearby to help support the businesses. I think some type of a water feature or fountain would be a great addition especially during the summer months.
 
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Malone Commercial Brokers rendering. The mechanical rooftop caps appear to have a different look as if they are almost transparent and now rectangular in shape.
 
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With office space going the way of the dodo bird, is there a plan to turn any open office space at canal plaza into residential?
 
With office space going the way of the dodo bird, is there a plan to turn any open office space at canal plaza into residential?

The office scene may be different than it was before COVID, but it's definitely not a relic. Portland's Class A office vacancy rate in 2022 was about the same as it was in 2015-2016. There's still demand for office space. The office spaces that have been hit the hardest are suburban office parks which don't offer many amenities. Downtown office spaces are starting to come back in many markets.

And look at the Boston area, which has added millions of square feet of lab (and office) space in the past few years with proposals for new projects coming all the time.
 
Overall, Canal Plaza is very healthy, has aged well for being 50 years old and is properly maintained. There is approximately 239,000 sf of office space total when combining all three buildings and there is only 17,500 sf currently available for lease.
 
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Renovations are underway on the bottom level of One Canal Plaza. When completed will add new entrances on the south and west sides along with more glass to make the building more pedestrian friendly and visually ascetic.
 
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Renovations continue on the lower two levels of One Canal Plaza with the glass installation complete on the 2nd floor.
 
It would be amazing if this treatment was being applied to the whole building! It would make One Canal seem less imposing and make the plaza feel more open and inviting.
 
I think it's all part of the $10M makeover that includes the Middle Street plaza as evidenced by previous renderings back in April.
 
Is the proposed building in the back lot terminated? or are they waiting for the recode?
 
I think it's all part of the $10M makeover that includes the Middle Street plaza as evidenced by previous renderings back in April.
I was a bit confused about the scope because even though $10 million is a lot of money....it doesn't seem like enough for a full exterior facelift of the whole building plus ground level work. But I do hope I'm wrong.
 
I think most of the money is going towards ground level improvements and possibly the mechanical caps on the rooftops by looking at the renderings.
 

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