Transit Tech Company Moves To Renovated Space In Old Town Chinatown

The newly renovated Overland Building has landed a major tenant, moovel, a tech subsidiary of Daimler. The company relocated its North American HQ from Downtown to take more than 17K SF in the building in the re-emerging Old Town Chinatown neighborhood.

The Old Town building, at 213 Northwest 4th Ave., was originally built as a warehouse in 1889 and at one time was connected to the Shanghai Tunnels. The current owner, Urban Development Partners, renovated the structure in collaboration with Emerick Architects and Hacker Architects with the goal of not obscuring the building’s past.

“The biggest aspect of the project was bringing back the building’s native splendor by restoring it," Urban Development Partners principal Eric Cress said. “The addition of the atrium enhances the interior environment and contributes to the work that Hacker and moovel did on the interiors." 

Cress said moovel is a boon to the neighborhood. "It’s great to have a Portland home-grown company move into Old Town, invest in it and ultimately lead the charge as other companies follow.”

The company provides mobile ticketing and payment systems for public transit authorities in North America. One of its specialties is helping public transit apps integrate with the rest of the urban transportation ecosystem, including first/last mile options like bike-share and on-demand car services.

CBRE vice president Ajay Malhotra and first vice president Kristin Hammond, with the company's Technology & Media Practice in Portland, repped moovel North America.