BIG DEALS

$105.5 Million

The biggest central-city commercial transaction of the year saw the Pearl District’s 231-unit
Asa Flats and lofts change hands—from the Seattle-based Unico to Atlanta-headquartered Invesco.

Why? At $456,709 per unit, the Asa displaced the nearby Wyatt as the biggest apartment transaction in Portland history. According to an analysis in Portland State University’s Center for Real Estate Quarterly Report, investors and big national firms are gravitating to Portland because other West Coast markets have become prohibitively expensive and competitive.

$4.2 Million

The fattest 2014 price tag for a single-family Portland home landed the West Hills’ Ardley House—a 7,343-square-foot, 6.5-bath mastodon of retro-Irish architecture (built in 1996) on a 20-acre estate.

Why? “It’s just magical,” says MJ Steen, the agent who represented the sellers. “It took about four years to build, and has so many imported materials—cobblestones from New York City, for example—and included so many antiques. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house so well executed.”

$10.5 Million

The Native American Youth and Family Center plans to break ground this summer on Generations, a 40-unit complex in Southeast Portland designed to house an intergenerational community of elders and families adopting from foster care, aiming to create permanent families.

Why? “Foster kids often lack meaningful connections to family,” says Dan Saltzman, the city commissioner responsible for housing issues. Native Americans, Saltzman notes, are disproportionately represented in foster care.