Zeller Comes To Town For Umpqua, Wants More
For Chicago-based Zeller Realty Group, Umpqua Bank Plaza is only its first Portland deal. The investor, which owns about 9M SF, is keen to up its game here.
"We look forward to additional investment in Portland, as we continue growth nationwide,” said ZRG CEO Paul Zeller. "Having studied it closely for several years, we know firsthand that Portland is a leading growth market."
The 298k SF Umpqua Bank Plaza is ZRG's first property west of Denver. Dating from 1974, the longtime HQ of Umpqua Bank underwent a renovation in 2015 under its previous owner, Shorenstein Properties, which bought the property in 2007 for $84M. This time around, it traded for $90M.
ZRG tapped Cushman & Wakefield to handle leasing and management of the building. Lana Baldock, Dan Swift and Havilah Coady form the local Cushman & Wakefield team that will handle the property. They also handled the leasing during five years of Shorenstein's ownership, when the building's occupancy rate rose to 97%.
The deal comes at a time of relative strength for Downtown Portland. Direct Class-A office vacancy dropped into single digits by the close of 2016 at 9.6%, according to Cushman & Wakefield data.
