Portland Ideal Org
From PDX Anon
In the last several years, the Scientology organization has been trying to open what it calls "Ideal Orgs" all over the world. This seems to be based on an essay by LRH in the 'Scientology Management Series', which is not online. The new buildings appear to be intended to be particularly big and slick-looking, to give an impression of success and officialness.
The 12 story building was donated by Portland Real Estate Mogul Joseph E. Weston to the non-profit Oregon Community Foundation in November of 2007. The Foundation claimed to have no interest in selling the historic building, but a sale for 5.38 million dollars was completed in January, 2008. According to an anonymous Youtube poster, the tenants of the building's upper floors were not offered a chance to renew their leases, and were in fact offered incentives to terminate said leases early so that the building could be renovated for the church. The same anonymous poster claimed the building was purchased without a mortgage loan, which would imply a cash transaction.[1], [2], [3]
Most of these claims are supported by an article on the fact that the building is up for sale again, as of April, 2010. On 3/31/2010, the Daily Journal of Commerce, the official paper of the City of Portland, reported:
When the Church of Scientology bought the Stevens Building in 2008, it told tenants to vacate when their leases ended. Most of them did.
Now the Portland building is 42 percent vacant, another 20 percent is used for storage, and the church no longer plans to move in.
“It would be nice to have it back to where it was in 2006 - about three-quarters full,” said Steven Ballinger, who has maintained a Princeton University Press sales office in the building for four years.
The Stevens Building, at 812 S.W. Washington St., is a 12-story high rise the international church thought could be its next downtown church center. But the building ultimately proved unsuitable, and the church is selling it. “We found another possible opportunity that might fit our needs better,” said the Rev. Steven Crandell, president of the Portland chapter of the church. He would not elaborate.
The Portland chapter claims about 1,200 members in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
The church paid $5.38 million in cash for the building with intentions to renovate it. The ground floor, 4,527 square feet of retail space, was to be a lobby where people could come in to learn about Scientology. The church also wanted a chapel.
“What we didn’t realize is that there wasn’t a space big enough to have a large church service or a large church event,” said Gwen Barnard, spokeswoman for the Portland chapter.
The church needed a space that would fit about 250 people, but the architecture firm it hired - Gensler, a global firm headquartered in San Francisco - advised that tearing down walls would compromise the stability of the building, Barnard said.
Look at all those empty suites...The church is asking $4.95 million for the building, which has approximately 44,000 net rentable square feet and a net operating income of $355,042.
Most of the space in the building is for small offices. The church occupies a few offices and is leasing others. “I like the neighborhood, and I like being downtown,” said Ballinger, who pays $14.47 per square foot, per year. “And the price is right.”
Investors have been looking at the Stevens Building, said broker Robert Butler of Butler Brokers Inc. He expects a buyer will want to be an owner-user operating on one of the upper floors, which have unobstructed views. The Stevens Building was built in 1914 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was renovated in 1954 by famed Portland architect Pietro Belluschi.
