The offending structure, in sunnier times. Credit: Google Street View
Not the best look for the 68-year-old Fifth Avenue Building, 1400 SW Fifth
Not the best look for the 68-year-old Fifth Avenue Building, 1400 SW Fifth Doug Brown

Portland Fire and Rescue says it’s investigating a “possible threat of building collapse” at a downtown high rise, after a portion of the building appeared to buckle today.

The building, 1400 SW Fifth—known as the Fifth Avenue Building—contains a KinderCare daycare, a 24 Hour Fitness an OHSU office, local offices for eBay, and more. It is owned by Melvin Mark Companies, and was built in 1951.

Mercury food writer Andrea Damewood posted these pictures to Twitter earlier this afternoon, and says she was evacuated from the gym.

Firefighters are on scene. We’re waiting to hear back from a public information officer.


Update, 12:25 pm According Portland Fire Lt. Rich Chatman, the fire bureau doesn’t believe the building is in danger of “imminent collapse”

“That doesn’t mean there is not damage to the structure,” Chatman tells the Mercury, “but by their methods, it does not look like there is an imminent collapse.”

Chatman says a call came in shortly after 11. Residents reported the building was bulging. “They reported that they could hear and see things that made them think the buidling was going to collapse,” Chatman says.

Fire crews arrived and began evacuating the building, along with nearby businesses.

At this point, structural engineers with the city are on side, looking further into possible reasons for the alarming defect, Chatman says.

TriMet is routing buses away from the building, which is on the city’s Transit Mall.

Update, 2:15 pm: The fire bureau held a press update. Firefighters say the damage is cosmetic.

I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters...