Ariston Development served as the Project Manager on the Five Hundred 5th Office Condominium, a redevelopment of a 7-story, $10M historic downtown office building in Portland, Oregon.
Built for confectioner Lot Q. Swetland just prior to the 1906 World’s Fair, the Swetland Building at Fifth Avenue and Washington Street in downtown Portland was once one of the city’s tallest structures. In the decades since, the building had been home to a pharmacy, candy shop, hair salon, dentist’s office, several architects, and most recently Camera World and Caplan Sports World.
By 2005, the building had been vacant for nearly seven years, with the only inhabitants dead pigeons and homeless people sleeping in the doorways. We executed a complex renovation plan that brought the building back to its’ original 1906 grandeur, placing it on the National Register of Historic Places. We also implemented a historic tax credit package that added $1.2 million in revenue to project’s bottom line.
Responsibilities included total oversight of a top-to-bottom renovation including major seismic upgrades, all new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, new roof, footings, floor diaphragms, hazardous materials abatement, and coordination with Trimet’s bus mall renovation along Fifth Avenue that installed the new MAX green line east to west through downtown.
We also developed a financial model & strategy for future office condo projects in Portland market, and consulted with other developers for similar projects in regional submarkets.
