Sam and I took a tour yesterday of the new RiverEast Center. Just off the East bank of the Willamette River, the building is the workplace to 250 employees from seven businesses and two non-profit organizations.
Jay Haladay, CEO of Coaxis [1], and Jeffery Reaves, President of Group Mackenzie [2], showed us the building's beautiful new design as well as some of the building's many environmentally-friendly features. These features include the reuse of the building's concrete for unique art features, on-site storm water management, and an innovative solar heating system.
We also saw an on-site fitness gym and learned about the public boat house on the building's bottom floor. The Center's close proximity to the Eastbank Esplanade makes for an inviting building open to all forms of transit.
With its former life as an art deco warehouse for C&H Sugar and Quaker Oats, the building was once slated for demolition to the proposed Mt. Hood Freeway. After the freeway failed to be built, however, the building sat vacant for 40 years.
Tucked partly underneath Interstate 5, the radically revamped building now sits as a gem of promise for an industrial area poised for future redevelopment and restoration.
In addition to the promising environmental features of the new RiverEast Center, the recent development of a once-vacant building emphasizes innovative efforts to support successful, sustainable development within the city core.
Coaxis [3] provides unique vertical-market software development and management services throughout the country. You can learn more about their company as well as their new headquarters on their website [3].
Group Mackenzie [4] is a firm that specializes in creating sustainable, cost effective and innovative designs through architectural, engineering, and planning services. Visit their website [5].
Be sure to take a trip to the new RiverEast Center. You will be amazed by what you see!