Block 216, developer Walt Bowen’s $600 million building in the heart of Portland’s troubled downtown, will stage its grand opening Aug. 15.
The 251-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which will be the building’s largest tenant and employ 350, will open for business that day. Aug. 15 is also the first day would-be buyers of the building’s 132 condos can close on their units.
Block 216 is the largest and most expensive building in the city’s central business district in four decades. The striking 35-story glass tower was an epic undertaking for Bowen even before the pandemic and the stunning decline of the city’s downtown.
Now, he and his team must find tenants and homebuyers who want to live and do business between the downtown Target store, a shuttered city park heavy with graffiti, and a Multnomah County behavioral health center that’s drawn complaints from nearby businesses because of security issues.
Bowen remains confident.
“As one of the tallest towers in Portland, this development is a monumental signifier of the renewal and transformation in store for this city,” he said in a statement. “We are pleased to contribute to Portland’s continued recovery and resurgence.”
Bowen declined an interview request.
Greg Goodman said Block 16 will be a “game-changer” for downtown.
“I think it’s fabulous that Walt has endured,” Goodman said. “He’s had to deal with some trying times and he deserves some success.”
Local real estate developer Bob Ames said the building is nothing less than a referendum on downtown Portland.
“They have to sell the condos, they’ve got to lease the office space and someone has to operate the hotel,” Ames said. “But, if it is successful on an operating basis iit sends all the right signals that Portland is coming back.”
Bowen also has apparently settled a fight with the city over affordable housing.
Bowen’s company – BPM Real Estate Group – will pay $7.76 million to the Portland Housing Bureau to avoid its inclusionary zoning requirements, one of the city’s programs intended to promote construction of affordable housing.
Bowen’s team had two choices: to make 27 of the 132 condos affordable, or to pay the penalty.
As first chronicled by The Oregonian/OregonLive, BPM delayed paying the money by insisting to the city that it would set aside the cut-rate condos when it actually had no intention of doing so.
On Friday, BPM pledged to make the payment to the city by the end of 2025, characterizing it as the “single largest investment supporting affordable housing in Portland history.”
Revenue from the condo sales will be key to the building’s success. Jim Mark, head of the Melvin Mark Cos. real estate development and management firm, said he was told on a recent tour of the building that 25% of the units had been tentatively sold.
Patrick Clark, a Portland Realtor who specializes in condos, said the building and its condos are “beautiful.” What’s more, the Ritz-Carlton affiliation will attract a different, wealthier customer than a typical Portland unit.
That being said, Portland-area condo sales in 2023 are weak. Sales in the first five months of this year are 45% lower than the same time last year, Clark said. In the same period, the average price fell 19%.
Much of the building’s retail space is spoken for. Packhouz Jewelers will move into the building’s first floor this fall. Flock, the building’s “all-new, open-air cuisine experience,” will be unveiled in November. The space, reminiscent of the food carts that once occupied the block, will be home to breweries, well-known restaurants and a coffee shop and bakery.
BPM is also negotiating a long-term lease with a major Portland law firm, three people in the real estate industry said, though the identity of the firm is not yet certain.