Natural Capital Center - History and Redevelopment

History and Redevelopment

The timber and brick structure that is now Natural Capital Center was built in 1895 by the J. McCraken Company. The building's recessed rounded-arch entry, arched window openings and massive heft exemplify the Romanesque style inspired by architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Situated between two railroad freight yards, the McCraken wholesale company distributed Monterey sand, Tenino sandstone and other building supplies. In the 1930s, the building became known as the Central Truck Terminal and then from 1941 to 1997 housed the Rapid Transfer & Storage Company (von Hagen, 2003).

In 1998, Ecotrust, a nonprofit conservation organization, purchased the building with a donation from then board member Jean Vollum. Redevelopment of the 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) building cost $12.4 million and was completed in September 2001. The idea that a conservation organization would shift focus from protecting forests and watersheds to participating in urban renewal was an unusual and controversial one. A primary champion was then Ecotrust board member Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Ecotrust council member Stewart Brand, author of How Buildings Learn, was another key supporter. Soon after the building's purchase, he guided a charrette to discuss potential systems designs and programmatic linkages for the building. That the environmental movement should address the urban environment was later one of the key themes in Brand's 2005 article "Four Heresies."

Re-opened to the public in 2001, the building was named the Natural Capital Center to reflect the ideas in ecological economics that nature's services are basic to human existence and that natural capital is, along with financial and other forms of capital, a fundamental means of production. As the first LEED gold-certified building in the Pacific Northwest, the building has become an icon of Portland, Oregon's leadership in the field of sustainability. The mix of "green" tenants in the building—including Patagonia, Hot Lips Pizza, ShoreBank Pacific, Portfolio 21, and the City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development—has gained much attention and been cited as an inspiration for other developments planned around the country, including the Green Exchange in Chicago.

It is located at 721 NW 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209.