KOIN Center
Encyclopedia
KOIN Center is a 155.15 m (509 ft), 35-storey
, skyscraper in Portland, Oregon
. The building, the third tallest in the city, was designed by the firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
and opened in 1984 at a cost of .
, the CBS
affiliate in Portland. The building was controversial while being constructed because its location blocked the view of Mount Hood
that had long been seen by drivers emerging from the Vista Ridge Tunnel under Portland's West Hills
going eastbound on U.S. Route 26.
The KOIN Center was the first building completed in a projected three-block development sponsored by the Portland Development Commission
(PDC) that also included the city blocks immediately to the north and east. The latter was the long-time location of the KOIN broadcast studios and offices, which relocated to the KOIN Center upon its completion. Of the additional projected buildings, only the Essex House apartments, occupying half of the northern block facing SW Third Avenue were completed, in 1992. A 15-story office building on the eastern block, 100 Columbia, was proposed but construction never commenced. This building has now been cancelled.
The PDC had a number of goals in sponsoring the Fountain Plaza project. One was to provide a link between the government and central business core of downtown and the nearly completed South Auditorium redevelopment district immediately to the south. This redevelopment project, initiated in 1960, had been the first for the PDC and, though controversial at the time, has been considered by some to be one of the nation's few successful such projects from that era. Reflecting that goal, the southwest entrance to the KOIN Center faces its own street-corner plaza diagonally across the intersection from the Ira C. Keller Fountain
, making a visual and pedestrian connection that important public space. The Keller Fountain, built in 1970 and originally named the Forecourt Fountain in reference to the adjacent Municipal (now Keller) Auditorium, was described by New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable
as maybe "one of the most important urban spaces since the Renaissance." It is this fountain that gave the name to the KOIN Center project. A second goal of the PDC in proposing this mixed-use building was to promote the type of condominium apartment living common in the central business districts of large cities such as New York
and Chicago
but not in Portland at the time.
The firm of Olympia & York of Oregon, a joint venture of Olympia & York Properties of Toronto and Arnon Development, both Canadian-owned, won the PDC competition for the Fountain Plaza project and completed the building in 1984. Between 1992 and 1995, the real estate holdings of Olympia & York of Toronto were auctioned off in bankruptcy court, with the KOIN Center going to an ownership group headed by the Louis Dreyfus Property Group (LDPG) in 1993. The LDPG owned the building until it was sold on July 3, 2007 to a group of California investors for , a purchase that included the two remaining building sites for potential high-rise office and residential development. In August 2009, these investors, including the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS
) and CommonWealth partners, surrendered control of the KOIN Center after defaulting on their mortgage of US$70 million from the New York Life Insurance Company
. The condos on the upper floors are owned separately and were unaffected by the default. In December 2009, Portland-based American Pacific International Capital purchased the office portion of the building for between $50 and $60 million, approximately half the paid by CalPERS in 2007.
-like profile and blue crown sets it apart from most of the other buildings in the downtown Portland area and gives it an instantly recognizable appearance, "one of the most important things a downtown skyscraper can accomplish." The step backs in its footprint with increasing height and its multi-faceted form are reminiscent of the Art Deco
skyscrapers of the 1920s, leading some commentators to describe its architecture as Neo-Art Deco. In addition to the KOIN broadcast studios and offices below grade, the building has three principal functional programs, each with its own entrance and distinctive facade--commercial/office on SW Columbia Street, retail and (formerly) theater space on the southwest corner, and residential condominiums on SW Third Avenue. In addition, a restaurant space has its own entrance on SW Clay Street. Thus, the building relates to its surroundings in several distinct ways. Of these, most important is the southwest corner as an extension of the public space represented by the Keller Fountain and adjacent Keller Auditorium
. A feature unique in Portland, and resulting from the multi-block nature of the original project, is the location of the entrance to the underground parking and loading docks on the adjacent block to the east. This spares any of the four street frontages from accommodating a parking entrance or loading dock, a distinct design advantage for a building on one of the small 200 ft-by-200 ft blocks typical of downtown Portland.
, Portland's CBS
affiliate, occupy the basement and a portion of the ground floor. The blue spire crowning the building houses the equipment used for broadcasting radio and television signals. The building previously housed the six-screen KOIN Center Cinema, which closed in 2004 after 19 years in operation.
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
, skyscraper in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. The building, the third tallest in the city, was designed by the firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
ZGF Architects LLP , formerly Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, is an American architectural firm based in Portland, Oregon at twelve west. Founded in 1942, the firm was listed as one of the 10 largest architectural firms in the United States in 2002...
and opened in 1984 at a cost of .
History
The building was originally named Fountain Plaza, but it quickly came to be known as the KOIN Center, or KOIN Tower, reflecting the name of its highest-profile occupant, KOIN televisionKOIN
KOIN is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Portland metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Portland, Oregon, United States; it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 40...
, the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate in Portland. The building was controversial while being constructed because its location blocked the view of Mount Hood
Mount Hood
Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon. It was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States...
that had long been seen by drivers emerging from the Vista Ridge Tunnel under Portland's West Hills
West Hills
West Hills can refer to several places in the United States:* West Hills, New York* West Hills, Pennsylvania* West Hills, Los Angeles, California...
going eastbound on U.S. Route 26.
The KOIN Center was the first building completed in a projected three-block development sponsored by the Portland Development Commission
Portland Development Commission
The Portland Development Commission is the urban renewal agency created by the city of Portland, Oregon. It promotes development, housing projects and economic development within the city's eleven urban renewal districts....
(PDC) that also included the city blocks immediately to the north and east. The latter was the long-time location of the KOIN broadcast studios and offices, which relocated to the KOIN Center upon its completion. Of the additional projected buildings, only the Essex House apartments, occupying half of the northern block facing SW Third Avenue were completed, in 1992. A 15-story office building on the eastern block, 100 Columbia, was proposed but construction never commenced. This building has now been cancelled.
The PDC had a number of goals in sponsoring the Fountain Plaza project. One was to provide a link between the government and central business core of downtown and the nearly completed South Auditorium redevelopment district immediately to the south. This redevelopment project, initiated in 1960, had been the first for the PDC and, though controversial at the time, has been considered by some to be one of the nation's few successful such projects from that era. Reflecting that goal, the southwest entrance to the KOIN Center faces its own street-corner plaza diagonally across the intersection from the Ira C. Keller Fountain
Keller Fountain Park
Keller Fountain Park is a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon. Originally named Forecourt Fountain or Auditorium Forecourt, the park opened in 1970 across Third Avenue from what was then Civic Auditorium. In 1978, the park was renamed after Ira Keller, head of the Portland Development...
, making a visual and pedestrian connection that important public space. The Keller Fountain, built in 1970 and originally named the Forecourt Fountain in reference to the adjacent Municipal (now Keller) Auditorium, was described by New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable
Ada Louise Huxtable
Ada Louise Huxtable is an architecture critic and writer on architecture. In 1970 she was awarded the first ever Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for "distinguished criticism during 1969."...
as maybe "one of the most important urban spaces since the Renaissance." It is this fountain that gave the name to the KOIN Center project. A second goal of the PDC in proposing this mixed-use building was to promote the type of condominium apartment living common in the central business districts of large cities such as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
but not in Portland at the time.
The firm of Olympia & York of Oregon, a joint venture of Olympia & York Properties of Toronto and Arnon Development, both Canadian-owned, won the PDC competition for the Fountain Plaza project and completed the building in 1984. Between 1992 and 1995, the real estate holdings of Olympia & York of Toronto were auctioned off in bankruptcy court, with the KOIN Center going to an ownership group headed by the Louis Dreyfus Property Group (LDPG) in 1993. The LDPG owned the building until it was sold on July 3, 2007 to a group of California investors for , a purchase that included the two remaining building sites for potential high-rise office and residential development. In August 2009, these investors, including the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS
CalPERS
The California Public Employees' Retirement System or CalPERS is an agency in the California executive branch that "manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.6 million California public employees, retirees, and their families"...
) and CommonWealth partners, surrendered control of the KOIN Center after defaulting on their mortgage of US$70 million from the New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company
The New York Life Insurance Company is one of the largest mutual life-insurance companies in the United States, and one of the largest life insurers in the world, with about $287 billion in total assets under management, and more than $15 billion in surplus and AVR...
. The condos on the upper floors are owned separately and were unaffected by the default. In December 2009, Portland-based American Pacific International Capital purchased the office portion of the building for between $50 and $60 million, approximately half the paid by CalPERS in 2007.
Design
The KOIN Center occupies an entire city block and is clad in orange brick and trimmed with white limestone at the base; the sloping roof forming the pyramidal crown is prefinished galvanized steel. The zigguratZiggurat
Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near...
-like profile and blue crown sets it apart from most of the other buildings in the downtown Portland area and gives it an instantly recognizable appearance, "one of the most important things a downtown skyscraper can accomplish." The step backs in its footprint with increasing height and its multi-faceted form are reminiscent of the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
skyscrapers of the 1920s, leading some commentators to describe its architecture as Neo-Art Deco. In addition to the KOIN broadcast studios and offices below grade, the building has three principal functional programs, each with its own entrance and distinctive facade--commercial/office on SW Columbia Street, retail and (formerly) theater space on the southwest corner, and residential condominiums on SW Third Avenue. In addition, a restaurant space has its own entrance on SW Clay Street. Thus, the building relates to its surroundings in several distinct ways. Of these, most important is the southwest corner as an extension of the public space represented by the Keller Fountain and adjacent Keller Auditorium
Keller Auditorium
Keller Auditorium, formerly known as the Portland Municipal Auditorium, the Portland Public Auditorium, and the Portland Civic Auditorium, is a performing arts center located on Clay Street in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts...
. A feature unique in Portland, and resulting from the multi-block nature of the original project, is the location of the entrance to the underground parking and loading docks on the adjacent block to the east. This spares any of the four street frontages from accommodating a parking entrance or loading dock, a distinct design advantage for a building on one of the small 200 ft-by-200 ft blocks typical of downtown Portland.
Tenants
As discussed above, there are four distinct uses for the KOIN Center, all hosted in separate parts of the building. The first three floors house mixed retail and office space. The ground-floor restaurant space, originally occupied by a branch of the Seattle-based Thirteen Coins, is now the location of a Morton's Steakhouse. Floors 4 through 19 are office space, with tenants including First American Title Insurance, Aetna health and dental insurance, Helmy Law Firm Pc, and others. The Fountain Plaza Condominiums occupy Floors 20 through 31. The studios and production facilities of KOINKOIN
KOIN is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Portland metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Portland, Oregon, United States; it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 40...
, Portland's CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate, occupy the basement and a portion of the ground floor. The blue spire crowning the building houses the equipment used for broadcasting radio and television signals. The building previously housed the six-screen KOIN Center Cinema, which closed in 2004 after 19 years in operation.
See also
- Architecture of Portland, Oregon
- List of tallest buildings in Portland, Oregon