525 SW Morrison Street, Portland, OR 97204

One of Portland's historical treasures finds new life as a sustainably-designed luxury hotel

The Meier & Frank department store's iconic flagship building in downtown Portland was completed in stages between 1909 and 1932. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and had long remained the lynchpin of the City's downtown redevelopment plans.

Meier & Frank eventually sold the building to the May company, but the large structure was underutilized and falling into disrepair. The high costs of seismic upgrade were a barrier to its restoration. Sage Hospitality was able to close the financing gap with New Markets Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits.

Sage developed the top ten floors of the building as "The Nines," a 334-room "eco-luxury" hotel that earned a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The bottom five floors became a Macy's department store.

The project has helped fulfill the City's downtown redevelopment goals, created jobs and positive economic impact, and rehabilitated one of Portland's key historic treasures.

The Meier & Frank project has been recognized with the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2009 National Preservation Honor Award. National Trust President Richard Moe hailed the redevelopment as "a triumph of adaptive reuse, green technology and sustainable historic development."

Development Type: Historic rehabilitation and luxury hotel

Project Timeline: Completed Summer 2008

Project Partners: Hospitality Fund I, LLC; Sage Hospitality; Portland Development Commission; JP Morgan; Prudential Mortgage

Total Project Cost: $108 million

NMTC Allocation: $72.5 million

Total Economic Impact: $750.1 million

Jobs: 2,200

LEED Level: Silver

Click here for more community impacts information (PDF)