Landmark tower with massive data center value-add potential for sale in Portland

PORTLAND, August 31, 2021 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has been engaged on behalf of a partnership between Melvin Mark Companies and Downtown Development Group to market for sale Union Bank Tower, a core, data center reposition of a 178,634-square-foot office investment opportunity located in the West end of the Central Business District in Portland, Oregon.

Union Bank Tower is exceptionally located at 707 SW Washington St., just one block from Portland’s preeminent internet exchange (Pittock Block), which is only one of two primary internet exchanges for the entire Pacific Northwest. Additionally, the property is near the CenturyLink and AT&T buildings, while Hillsboro - one of the fastest-growing data center submarkets in the world - is located just 18 miles west. Regionally, Portland has become a strategic location for connectivity between San Francisco and Seattle, while, globally, Portland offers low latency to the Midwest, East Coast, Asia Pacific, EMEA and Latin America. The most used and commercialized north/south long-haul fiber routes that connect Portland to Seattle and San Francisco originate at Union Bank Tower.

The 17-story property is 72 percent leased to 30 office tenants with rare connection capabilities, providing a unique opportunity to create additional data center and telecommunication space. The tower is home to 10 fiber-optic carriers, with a total of 18 existing data center tenants exchanging data in its Meet-Me-Room. Union Bank Tower is the key point of origination and termination of two key long-haul fiber routes, the Joint Trench and FTV Build. There are four major fiber entries in the parking garage of the building, with four major providers owning physical long-haul fiber cable assets that originate in the tower and an additional six carriers with long-haul fiber pairs.

The JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales Advisory team that is representing the seller is being led by Managing Directors Buzz Ellis and Conan Lee, along with Director Adam Taylor.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team leading the debt efforts includes Managing Director Alex Witt and Director Zach Kersten.

“Union Bank lies at a critical network junction that has enormous potential for future growth of new physical network infrastructure as well as IP peering,” said Lee. “With capital allocations targeting alternative assets at all-time highs, now is the perfect time to present this iconic tower to the market.”

“Now that the tower’s namesake tenant has left the building, a new owner will have the generational opportunity to re-brand the asset, adding value in the process,” added Ellis.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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