If you haven’t been on the Twitter today, you might have missed this nugget from Mayor Sam Adams’ office:
Wind-power giant Vestas is going to set up corporate shop in the Pearl District, turning the long-empty Meier & Frank Depot Building into a palace of green-technology palavering.
Construction could begin as soon as October, with Vestas’ newly minted “North American sales and service headquarters” ready for business in early 2012. Portland-based Gerding Edlen Development is handling the $66 million project, expected to achieve the coveted “platinum” certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Of course, Vestas—and its hundreds of jobs—isn’t staying just because it thinks were a neat-o place to preach the green gospel. To keep Vestas from straying to other cities, Portland is giving them an $8.1 million interest-free loan and the state is offering $2.25 million.
What makes it so green? And what does this mean for Adams? Keep reading
- The depot, bottom left
The 1927 building, whose historic facade will remain intact, will boast (seems like the right word) a rooftop solar array larger than any other downtown. It also will have something called an “ecoroof,” which I presume is good for making the air cleaner, and not quite as hot on those rare days (or weeks) when it actually gets really hot here.
This is also a victory for Adams and his relentless mantra about building the city’s “green economy.” http://pdxeconomicdevelopment.com/
According to the announcement of the deal, in the works for some months, 400 jobs (counting Vestas’ current home base on Naito Parkway) will be preserved and 450 construction jobs will be created. Also, with all the new space, Vestas could add as many as 450 more employees.
Vestas has had its corporate HQ in Portland since 2002, moving here from Palm Springs, but so far hadn’t been ready to commit for the long-haul.
Hey Denis, you were seeming all smart today until you made it sound like you don’t know what an “ecoroof” is. They’re pretty common around here…
http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cf…
Ecoroof –> you put dirt and plants on the roof so the sun does not cause to roof to decay. Then Your employees can go up on the roof and drink beer to celebrate your greeness.
Denis this is a freebie: Big Pipe means billion dollar septic tank for Portland. These roofs, eco street, and the proposed 100,000 trees the city wants planted are to avoid building a few more big pipes because the one we built was not big enough.
you’re right, Rosy: the City should have built a much bigger, much more expensive pipe & to hell with common sense, eco-sensible steps to reduce the need for runoff. that would have been a much better idea. why reduce the need for something when we can just spend a lot more money to handle “waste”? screw recycling and reduced use of plastics, etc. don’t we have plenty of space to dig holes & bury shit? of course we do! it’s the American way.
tabarnhart = WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.