#2,494 - Portland DT Exodus continues: US Bancorp leaving Big Pink" Building

News For Reasonable People

U.S. Bank announced they will not be renewing their lease at the U.S. Bancorp Tower, more commonly known as "the Big Pink" in downtown.

While they are moving out of downtown, the regional headquarters will remain in Portland and will now be found at the Columbia Center in Northeast Portland.

The banks four branches and their client center will remain downtown at 900 Southwest 5th Avenue.

Still, people are expecting an economic hit from the headquarters leaving the downtown area.

“These are hundreds of employees that are going to be leaving downtown; that’s going to affect restaurants, the bars, the ancillary businesses that work with US Bank," said Andy Giegerich, managing editor of the Portland Business Journal.

"The vacancy rate downtown right now is 31%, according to Colliers, and so that means 1 out of every 3 office spaces is empty," he continued.

City commissioners also were not thrilled about the news.

“It’s disappointing, but it tells us where our work is cut out for us, to keep investing and doubling down in community safety, public safety," said Commissioner Carmen Rubio. "It’s never a good time, especially right as we’re trying to recover in our economy."

During Thursday's city council meeting, Mayor Ted Wheeler also said that the news was disappointing, and they tried to work through issues with U.S. Bank and Unico, the property owner, but the bank still made the decision to not renew.

In a statement, U.S. Bank does not address any issues and instead provided this reasoning for the decision to move to northeast Portland:

"In the simplest terms, the decision came down to a confluence of factors — an expiring lease on our space in the building, a reevaluation of our space in 24 key markets we have identified for future growth like Portland, and the availability of a nearby facility that the bank owns where we would accommodate our teams that are not client-facing. These changes have no impact on the way through which most in the local community engage with us, our branch presence in Portland and the surrounding area."

In a separate statement to the Portland Business Journal, U.S. Bank also said no employees will lose their jobs. They also said that all employees will move to other locations around town by the end of the year.

The city also noted how since the pandemic, many businesses have left downtown and are aware crime and the issue of homelessness contribute to some.

However, they said there have been improvements.

“Downtown is getting cleaner; it is safer than it was two years ago, but it’s not nearly where it was in 2019," said Commissioner Rene Gonzalez. “We have to dramatically change the environment in our city in terms of tax burden and public safety."

During the city council meeting and in a statement, the mayor explained more businesses have come to Portland in recent years, and crime has dropped a bit.

Part of the statement from the mayor's office reads:

"We are continuing to see promising data trends in crime rates, a 16% increase in business openings in 2023 (including Hoka, The Ritz Carlton, SoHo House, and Daimler Truck North America), notable increases to downtown foot traffic, progress on homelessness, and we led in the development of a business tax incentive to encourage businesses to lease office and retail space."

Despite this, Wheeler also said it's likely more businesses will leave the area, but also urged the public to keep an optimistic view of the city.

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