Building Profile: The Ford Building

Located at the busy intersection of 11th and Division in Southeast Portland, the Ford Building is 104,000 square foot covering 3 floors and a basement. NAI Elliott broker, Riley Henderson handles leasing for the 99 commercial spaces and tenants. Sizes range from around 200 to 6,300 square feet, which lends the building to a broad variety of tenants leasing space.

Originally built in 1914 for the Ford Motor Company, it’s original use was as an assembly plant for Ford vehicles. The building is a template that Ford came up with and placed along railroad tracks throughout the United States. Parts were shipped by rail to the plant, vehicles were assembled there and then rolled off the factory floor onto sale rooms across Portland.

Assistant Real Estate Manager for the Ford Building, Kate Barnett, sees the building and the surrounding neighborhood as a great hub for restaurants, makers and artists. Supporting the Ford Building is an excellent team of maintenance, managers and leasing agents all watching out for what works best for the tenants and their spaces. Filled with artists, makers and retailers in various stages of growth, the NAI Elliott team is able to meet each tenant where they are and help them thrive.

One of the most unique features of the building and ownership is that they have assembled a portfolio of commercial buildings centered around the Ford. This provides tenants an opportunity to be welcomed at the Ford in the early stages of their growth and expand into other buildings in the Intrinsic Ventures portfolio depending on their needs. One such tenant is a jewelry maker that leases space at the Ford to manufacture their products and then run a retail space at the partner building, Jimmy’s Tire in Annex, selling their goods. Because of the synergy happening between the buildings in this area, the NAI Elliott team can quickly respond to a tenant’s changing needs for office space as they grow over time.