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Overview

The Heartline complex in Portland's Pearl District consisted of a 15-story, rental apartment block and a 5-story building containing office and retail space. A public plaza connected the two buildings, the architecture of each was meant to contextualize with portions of the Pearl District. The Seattle-based Security Properties Development Company developed the two-building set, but sold the office building soon after its 2018 completion.

Building History

The Seattle architectural firm of Mithun, Incorporated, designed the Heartline development, in the apartment-rich Pearl District neighborhood of Portland, OR. The project contained two component parts, each with a distinctive design, an apartment tower containing 218 market-rate units and a brick-clad, office/commercial high-rise. According to the Mithun, Incorporated.com website: "Heartline is comprised of two complementary buildings that relate to contrasting parts of the evolving Pearl District, and are joined by a new public courtyard. The brick-clad low-rise is a modern interpretation of historical industrial buildings to the south, while the sleek, glassy residential tower relates to a taller context to the north." The office block retained several "loading docks" common to the Pearl District's industrial buildings of the past:: "To enrich the pedestrian experience, street-level retail in the low-rise spills out onto raised retail “docks” similar to historical loading areas in this post-industrial district. Dining spaces and bocce activate the courtyard, bringing neighbors together in this vibrant infill development. (See Mithun, Incorporated.com, "Neighborly Infill Heartline Portland, OR," accessed 09/28/2021.)

The office block had a timber frame, while the apartment tower had a steel and concrete skeleton.

In 03/2019, the Security Properties Development Company sold the 72,100-square-foot, 5-story office block to the Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation, and its U.S. Real Estate Investment Fund LLC for approximately $48.5 million. According to the Portland Business Journal.com, "That price pencils out to about $672 per square foot, which would set a new per-square-foot high-water mark in the Portland market." (See Jon Bell, Portland Business Journal.com, "Pearl District office building sale likely shatters Portland's high-water deal mark," published 03/21/2019, updated 04/03/2019 and accessed 09/28/2021.) At the time of the sale, the international vacation rental management firm, Vacasa, had rented out most of the building's office space. Vacasa was formed in 2009, and revenues of $492 million in 2020.

Security Properties did not sell the 294,900-square-foot apartment tower at the same time.

Building Notes

The Heartland complex, covering a 0.92-acre site, achieved a LEED Gold certification.

PCAD id: 23982