Eastbank Commerce Center
The Eastbank Commerce Center is Beam’s signature adaptive reuse project located in the Portland’s Central Eastside. Purchased in 2001, Beam converted the 80,000 square foot building from a mostly vacant furniture warehouse into a center for creative economy businesses home to 34 businesses. Beam served as the developer and general contractor in the adaptive reuse project. The renovation of the Eastbank Commerce Center required demolition of all interior elements and completely new infrastructure throughout. Important improvements include two new elevators, energy-efficient HVAC system, new entrance and a redesigned SM and exterior elements. Interior spaces were demised on the menu driven flex work-space model that allowed tenants to personalize their space to a high degree.
Beam was able to preserve many of the historic elements of the building, including rehabilitation of the old steel windows back to operable status. Beam’s historically sensitive adaptive re-use of the Eastbank Commerce Center allowed for its placement on the National Register of Historic Places gaining landmark status. In addition to breathing new life into an underutilized historic building, the adaptive re-use of the Eastbank Commerce Center has proven to be a catalytic project for change throughout the entire Central Eastside Industrial District. Since the project was completed City leaders were inspired to pass zoning amendments that created the new “industrial office” designation that covers part of the Central Eastside. The zone amendments allow for more flexibility in attracting creative economy types of employers into the old industrial zone and are an affirmation of Beam’s vision for the future of the Central Eastside.
Copyright © 2008 Beam Development - Made by Needmore