Building Renovation Will Help DAS Achieve “One State” Vision

August, 2020

In January 2019 the Oregeon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) became aware of a building for sale along the I-5 corridor in Wilsonville that has turned out to be an ideal location and size for the DAS to achieve their vision of bringing multiple state agencies under one roof. Working through existing State contracts, SERA was hired to perform a due diligence study and subsequently building opportunity studies for various tenants. After the purchase of the building, Otak/DAY CPM was brought in as the Owner’s Representative and SERA has been retained to continue design based on the earlier studies.

The 175,000 SF building housed a Microsoft manufacturing facility with an office/warehouse that sat on a 425,146 SF (9.76 acres) lot in a Planned Development Industrial Zone. After performing a due diligence study and building utilization exercise the state purchased the building in December of 2019 with the support of the Legislature and the Capital Projects Advisory Board. 

Since the purchase, the state, working with Otak/DAY CPM and SERA has been focusing on establishing a holistic “One State” vision for the building that would be a collaboration between state agencies that perform regulation and inspection functions and reduce the amount spent on maintenance requirements in having offices housed in several buildings in and around Portland.  

The project mission driving the design is to: “Enhance the DAS property portfolio with the adaptive reuse of space for the State’s tenants in a “One State” collaborative environment using sustainable construction and operations techniques including provisions to support critical services response”. The intent is to create synergies between tenant needs and shared resources such as laboratories, security systems, and electrical facilities.

Tenants and activities to be included are the:

• Department of Agriculture for testing animal and plant health including entomology, metrology, and other regulatory services provided by the agency.
• OSHA
• Department of Administrative Services Operations and Maintenance
• Flexible space for Emergency Response.
• Oregon State Police for long term evidence storage

While early design plans were being formatted, the arrival of COVID gave the building a new temporary function which supported the business case for the building purchase. The facility was converted into a home for Emergency Response Teams and included office space for 400 temporary employees in a call center. Accommodating emergency response efforts and providing temporary workspace is a function that the building will be able to provide in the future as well. This use and the corresponding response is one example of the flexibility that this building/project will provide DAS.