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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
With fine wines and tasty hors d’oeuvres, a large crowd of medical and city officials celebrated the grand opening of the Oregon Clinic medical office building at the Gateway Transit Center last month.
The three-story, 100,000 square-foot building will serve as a headquarters for the clinic and house some 60 doctors and 200 employees. The presence of interdisciplinary specialists will make possible “one stop” access and a “team approach” to medical care, clinic Co-President Dr. Lou Libby said in a press release.
The building, and an adjacent three-level parking garage, also represents the first step in the redevelopment of the transit center, which in turn is a key part of the Portland Development Commission’s strategy for the revitalization and redevelopment of Gateway. Long-term plans call for additions to the clinic building containing more medical uses and either offices, housing, other buildings on the center, or two more levels to the garage. The current project represents a partnership between the clinic, PDC, TriMet, and the Gerding Edlen Company.
Libby said that a few years ago, clinic doctors were “elbow to elbow” in their existing space. In seeking other quarters they turned to Gerding Edlen Principal Mark Edlen.
The Oregon Clinic’s Luigi Fausel described a tour arranged by Edlen for clinic representatives of the then-vacant Woodland Park Hospital. Pointing to the rain outside, Fausel recalled, “It was a night like this, only it was 30 degrees.” Their reaction to the Woodland Park building, he recalled, was “‘Ugh! We can’t go here. It’s so awful.’” According to Fausel, Edlen then casually mentioned plans to build a new structure at the transit center. “It was bait and switch, but I’m happy we were brought along,” he said. Of the new building he said, “There’s nothing like having a patient be happy, and this building allows it.”
Edlen noted that TriMet’s initial reaction to redeveloping the Transit Center was, “Oh, we’re not ready. We’re five or six years away.” However, he said, “The people in Gateway were looking for a catalyst to jump start the area.” He noted that the building has a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, gold standard. “Lou, thank you for letting us come along for the ride,” he said.
PDC’s Cheryl Twete noted that the structure is “the first new, Class A office building in Gateway in 20 years,” and the first to undergo design review. She congratulated the clinic, saying, “There are easier ways to develop than a public-private partnership.”
Indeed. The Opportunity Gateway Program Advisory Committee at first rejected the Oregon Clinic as too modest a development for such a key site; the committee even looked askance at beefed-up proposals because the clinic and Gerding Edlen proposed to do them in stages. It took several sessions to win PDC approval for the plans, especially for the garage. Commission members indicated that they were compromising to some extent out of respect for the importance of the project.
On opening night, as the guests were wined, dined and treated to music by Tom Grant, the lobby of the building was certainly elegant enough, especially in contrast to the commuters waiting in the rain about 50 yards away on the MAX light rail platform. The contrast led one oversized guest to challenge a somewhat underdressed reporter with, “Can I help you!!”
Presumably, future guests will get a more gracious greeting.
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