The highs and lows of crowdfunding

The iconic KOIN Tower building, 222 S.W. Columbia, unveiled its remodeled ground floor lobby space Wednesday night. The sleek space heralds the changing face of downtown Portland’s work/office scene, and was a year in the making.

Central Eastside design firm Mackenzie designed the new lobby in a palette of dark ash, silvery grey and white marble. The construction was done by Portland-based Lorentz Bruun Construction.

Wingback swivel chairs and upholstered banquettes create flexible meeting spaces and expand tenants’ square footage. Quick huddles with visiting clients suddenly feel far cooler.

Since nothing ever happens without good coffee, Portland’s Ristretto Roasters will open a lobby café here in January that will also serve beer and wine. It’s their fourth Portland café, said owner/roaster Din Johnson, who attended the opening with Portland-based writer Nancy Rommelmann. Chocolates emblazoned with KOIN Tower’s signature shape were served with the coffee. Also in January, Ristretto will open up in the Elemental Technologies building on S.W. Broadway.

The 35-story KOIN Tower has 19 floors of Class A Office space, and is home to Schnitzer Steel, Skanska, and SKB Real Estate among others. The Fountain Plaza Condominiums occupies it top 11 floors.

“It’s always been a little bit on the sleepier side of downtown here,” said KOIN Tower’s general manager, Traci Wall, who stood in front of a giant digital display that streamed social media content programed to pick up the hashtags #KoinTower, #Portland Art Museum, and #Fountain District. Portland companies Sprinklr and Planar created it.

“All this talent, right here in Portland,” Wall said, adding that “the cool thing is that all the social content is ever-changing, so it’s always fresh. Right now we’re using the neighborhood theme, and fountains because we’re rebranding this the fountain district, and we got some KOIN specific ones, too. We can create a particular campaign any time, run custom video, and do corporate events.”

“If you remember,” Wall said, “the lobby had all this pink-colored marble, brass, and dark wood before.” In other words, very ’80s, very dated. “Now that the renovation is done interest has picked up,” she said. “The area is really starting to wake up with the Porter Hotel across the street and an apartment building planned to the east.”

KOIN Tower, which originally opened in 1984, is presently 80 percent leased.

“We really wanted to make this an experience, a space where people can hang out,” Wall said, adding that many of Portland’s ’80s office buildings haven’t been renovated yet. “We feel great that our investment has been made.”