PORTLAND, ORE. — BPM Real Estate Group, a locally based and privately owned development and investment company, plans to open the Block 216 mixed-use tower in downtown Portland in August. Located at 900 SW Washington St., the tower will house The Ritz-Carlton, Portland hotel, the brand’s first in the Pacific Northwest.
In addition to the 251-room hotel, the high-rise will include The Ritz-Carlton Residences (132 condos and penthouses across 15 floors), shops and 134,000 square feet of office space, as well as a food hall on the ground level known as FLOCK. Development costs for Block 216 are reportedly $600 million.
“As one of the tallest towers in Portland, this development is a monumental signifier of the renewal and transformation in store for this city,” says Walter Bowen, founder and CEO of BPM. “We are pleased to contribute to Portland’s continued recovery and resurgence as one of the country’s leading business centers and gateway to the Pacific Northwest travel destination locations.”
The Ritz-Carlton hotel’s amenities will include a spa, signature restaurant on the 20th floor, infinity-edge pool and a 4,000-square-foot fitness center, according to the hotel website.
FLOCK, which will house nine BIPOC-owned (black, indigenous and people of color) vendors, is set to open this November and will include restaurants, a coffeeshop, food carts, a bakery and a brewery. Oregon Live reports the vendors include Artly Coffee, Birria la Plaza, Kim John Grillin, Sunrice, Prime Tap House, Queen Mama’s Kitchen, Suzaku and ZabPinto Thai Kitchen.
Packouz Jewelers, a historic jewelry and watch retailer, will move into its new retail space on the ground floor of Block 216 this fall as well. BPM also signed two office tenants: national law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and San Francisco-based venture capital firm Banneker Partners.
The developer recently closed financing that will secure project funding through construction completion and the start-up period through December 2024. BPM originally secured a $460 million, four-year construction loan for the project in 2019 from an affiliate of Mosaic Real Estate Investors.
The development is expected to support 2,000 jobs, including 350 hotel employees.
Additionally, BPM and the Portland Housing Bureau have reached an agreement regarding the timing of the developer’s $7.7 million payment under Portland’s Inclusionary Housing Program. The payment-in-lieu, which is made to facilitate offsite affordable housing and is due on Dec. 31, 2025, represents the single-largest investment supporting affordable housing in the city’s history, according to BPM.
“I look forward to seeing the direct impact of this investment in the program for creating a difference in affordable housing for our city,” says Bowen.
— John Nelson