Ernst & Young ditches downtown for the Pearl
Portland Business Journal - by Rob Smith Business Journal Editor
Ernst & Young LLP is joining a host of other professional services firms opening an office in Portland's Pearl District.
The global company moved its 74 local employees into Brewery Block II last week. The 12,000-square-foot office, at 425 N.W. Couch St., can accommodate another 50 workers.
Brewery Block II, a LEED-certified building developed by Portland's Gerding Edlen Development Co., is already home to more than a dozen businesses, including Perkins Coie law firm, Gerding Edlen, GBD Architects and Willamette University's Portland offices. A ground-floor tenant is Henry's 12th Street Tavern.
The move continues an influx of corporate tenants into the Pearl District. Last month, law firm Ater Wynne announced it would relocate its 100 employees to the neighborhood by the end of this year.
For Ernst & Young, the move is another signal of its rapid growth in the Portland market. The company left the area when it merged with Arthur Andersen in the 1990s. It re-entered Portland in late 2002 when several former Arthur Andersen health care specialists, already located here, decided to join the company.
Until then, Ernst & Young had been servicing its Northwest clients from its Seattle office.
"People joked that there were more chairs in the conference room than there were employees to fill them," said Lisa Schwartz, an Ernst & Young spokeswoman, about the firm's re-entry into Portland.
Since then, the company has been on a quiet growth tear. It now employs 40 people in its assurance and advisory services practice, 15 in its tax practice and nine in health science advisory services. The remainder are administrative personnel. Schwartz said the firm plans to double its local presence in the next few years.
A Pearl District location, with its proximity to boutique shops, bars and restaurants, is a solid recruiting tool even for a professional services firm, said Eric Turner, an associate broker with Portland's Capacity Commercial Group. Ernst & Young was previously in downtown Portland.
"I'm sure it's of high interest to be right in the mix of things," said Turner, whose company was not involved in the transaction. "All that vibe is something you don't really get anywhere else."
Ernst & Young refused to comment on details of its lease agreement, but office rents in the Brewery Blocks often exceed $30 per square foot.
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