In May 2010, a majority of Port of Portland employees were consolidated into a new Port headquarters building at Portland International Airport. The building, shaped to echo the hull of a ship or the wing of a plane, sits on top of a 3,000-space long-term parking garage at PDX; both the office space and parking garage were designed to be models of sustainable design and construction. The building’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Gold Certification is pending.

The building features both tried and true resource conservation measures, like using energy efficient lighting, materials from renewable or recyclable sources, and water efficient fixtures. It also relies on innovations like ground-source heating and cooling produced through a closed-loop system reaching 300 feet below the surface and a Living Machine® system, which recycles wastewater onsite for reuse in the building’s toilets and cooling towers.

No state or local tax funds were involved in the new structure. The overall building cost $241 million—$156 million for the parking garage, pedestrian tunnels and related utilities, and $85 million for the offices. The new garage was funded with a combination of available working capital in the PDX Port cost center and revenues from the Port cost center, which includes parking, rental car, air cargo, and other revenues collected at the airport. The office building is funded with a combination of available working capital in the PDX Port cost center and airport revenue bonds paid for by the Port cost center.