The Lincoln Building

Unico completed an off-market purchase of The Lincoln Building, a largely vacant, 256,935 square foot office building in downtown Portland. Owned and operated by Qwest Communications since the 1930s, the asset presented difficult owner/user challenges such as deferred maintenance and seismic upgrade needs. As part of the sale, Unico negotiated a sale-leaseback with Qwest to occupy 30% of the office space, leaving 70% remaining to be leased. The building required an extensive interior renovation and seismic upgrades in addition to its sizeable vacancy.

The Lincoln Building, a seven-story office building in downtown Portland, Ore. The US Bancorp Tower is visible behind it.

Our acquisitions team works closely with our in-market personnel to pursue deals outside of the traditional channels of commodity offerings.

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The Lincoln Building in Portland, Oregon.

While under contract to acquire the property, Unico sourced a government credit tenant to lease 100,000 square feet, bringing the building to 70% occupancy prior to closing – thereby realizing much of the upside and squeezing risk out of the deal at the onset. The timing stipulations were so expedited for this tenant-in-tow that Unico had to skillfully negotiate space requirements with the seller while not giving away its proposed new tenancy. Once acquired, Unico successfully renovated the building to attract more tenants, while also completing a seismic upgrade. Unico leased the remaining vacancy to five additional tenants during a period when Qwest downsized its space further, thereby outperforming its underwritten stabilized occupancy level and producing a 19% IRR over a 9-year period.

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Our acquisitions team works closely with our in-market personnel to pursue deals outside of the traditional channels of commodity offerings.