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August, 2003 |
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Architecture
& Interiors Restoring the Telegram Firms team to bring new life to downtown building |
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By
KJ Field The historic Telegram Building is about to awaken from a deep lull. With its stately presence at the Southwest corner of 11th Avenue and Washington Street, the building has long attracted the attention of passersby but not many tenants over its lifetime. "The building's been frozen in time to a certain extent," said Art DeMuro, president of Venerable Properties, the project's developer. "Our historic research shows that the building has spent more time vacant than it's been occupied." Constructed in 1922 to house the Portland Evening Telegram newspaper, the 33,000-square-foot structure served the publication for eight years before the paper folded. A sporadic tenant history and multiple owners followed. Ten years ago, the Nathan family purchased the Telegram Building. Mike McCulloch, a partner at WaterLeaf Architecture, has spent the past decade drafting pro-formas of different schemes for the Nathan family to transform the building into a viable property. Despite his numerous attempts from hotel and condominium uses to small lofts, McCulloch never gave up on the building. "The Telegram Building is an important landmark and I really wanted to keep it out of jeopardy," said McCulloch. "It's also very architecturally interesting and posed a fun design challenge." As real estate investment questions became more detailed, McCulloch referred the owner to Venerable Properties, a development company with a strong emphasis on historic redevelopment. In 2001, the Nathan family and Venerable Properties formed a team and started working together on the future of the Telegram Building. The adaptive reuse of the building includes historic restoration as well. The facade will be returned to its initial design above the large windows, which were framed in marble years later. Some of the dismantled marble will be reused in the design for the historic entry stairs, and the rest will be sold for reuse. The brick building needed seismic reinforcement and a shotcrete scheme on the interior perimeter will hold bricks from the inside. Timbers will be recycled as trim and smaller elements within the building and the design retains as many systems as possible. The very large timbers in the building will be sold for reuse in other projects. A historic wood and ironwork staircase on the ground floor is being carefully preserved. Most notably, the distinctive clock tower will become operational for the first time in many years and its dome will be copper. Associate and Project Manager at WaterLeaf, Bill Bailey, said that original drawings showed a different clock tower than the one placed on the building--a custom one--and the existing tower is a "catalog" tower. "It appears they decided to order one fabricated elsewhere and assemble it here," said Bailey. "This tower is made of sheet metal, even the urn finials that surround it are sheet metal. Restoring it is almost like auto body work," Bailey said. The dome may currently be copper that was painted white in the past, but because there was no way to access the top of the 48-foot tower, the team has been waiting for construction to begin. Scaffolding went up in April. Using a sensitive design solution that retains the building's established character, McCulloch created an additional floor on top of the three-story building. Set 20 feet back from the building edges, the fourth floor begins discreetly behind the clock tower and takes advantage of a small never-occupied room at the tower's base. "The addition of the office penthouse space will be spectacular. The space offers incredible views as well as the opportunity to experience the historic elements of the tower up close," said McCulloch. "I've always thought about adding another level up there. Once you've put in a new core and stairs, it's very economical." An outdoor deck will fill the space between the penthouse building edge and the design calls for reusing the existing terra cotta balustrade as deck guardrails. The original entrance will serve as the entry for the ground floor retail tenant and a new building entrance in the middle of Southwest 11th Avenue will showcase a two-story volume lobby with a grand staircase. In addition to the multiple historic windows, natural light will filter into the interior from an existing light well between the Telegram and the Mark Spencer Hotel. Translucent art glass will be placed in the light well panels to admit light but maintain privacy. The building includes 17,700 square feet of retail with nearly 16,000 square feet of office space above. Although the difficult market would seem a deterrent, Craig Kelly, Venerable Properties vice president and broker, said the building is already 50 percent leased and negotiations are in the works with potential tenants. "The property sells itself," said Kelly. "It's located in a great area, has superior natural light, excellent views and great volumes within the space. We've also been able to accommodate underground parking," Kelly said. The building's basement was originally constructed to hold the large printing presses and it will now become a two-story underground parking structure. The ground floor, a mezzanine and the second story have already been leased to Nelson's Nautilus Plus health club. Nautilus plans to create an upscale club that will be very different, partly owing to the unique features of the building. Kelly said Nautilus Plus was looking to relocate and loved the building and location. Situated in the city's West End district, the Brewery Blocks lie just to the north of the Telegram Building and the Museum Place development is to the east along the streetcar line. The streetcar also forms a direct connection to the Pearl District. As the Telegram Building's design went through land use review, the city was revising the West End guidelines, which placed a great emphasis on housing to allow varying uses for historic buildings. "It's a perfect example of where the city's flexibility saved a building rather than decreased its chances of renovation," said DeMuro. "The Nathan family owns the entire block and didn't want the ownership broken into condominiums and market rate apartments didn't pencil. Office and retail uses made sense." The $9 million project required a patchwork of funding solutions to make ends meet for the Telegram Building's redevelopment. According to DeMuro, the Portland Development Commission has been a critical player in the project's realization. PDC provided a seismic loan, storefront improvement program assistance and assistance with the building's exterior lighting. The Bank of America is the tax credit partner for Historic Tax Credits with the National Trust administering the funds. P & C Construction was also an integral team member, providing important cost information during pre-construction, according to McCulloch. The company had completed the renovation of the Governor Hotel two blocks away and understood the challenges of a historic renovation in that area. The commitment and patience of the Nathan family impressed DeMuro and the team. Given their long-term interest in the property, the Nathan family imposed a high standard of performance on the team and hopes this new activity will spur development in this north section of the West End. "The guy who goes first always takes the biggest chance," said DeMuro. "But other nearby developments are already being entertained." KJ Fields is a Portland freelance writer. |
Photo caption: Constructed in 1922, the Telegram Building is getting seismic reinforcing and historic restoration. Click to see photo of construction start with scaffolding at the building. Telegram Team Members Owner:
Telegram Investment LLC,
Owner's Rep: Venerable Properties General
Contractor: Project
Managers: Project
Superintendent: Architect:
Landscape
Architect: Structural
Engineer: Mechanical
Engineer: Civil
Engineers: Electrical
Engineers: Subcontractors:
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