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Buying the Ladd Carriage House

Story of Saving the Carriage House

See The Oregonian's Move Coverage

Rehab Plan Details

Renting at Ladd

From This in October, 2008

The Preserved Ladd Carriage House Awaits a Tenant or a Buyer The jubilation of the May, 2009, celebration of the completion of the restoration of the Ladd Carriage House was soon followed by a harsh dose of reality as the U.S. economy struggled through the worst recession since the 1930's.  2009 and 2010 have been a period of painful readjustments for the Portland real estate community and for commercial property owners.  This was certainly true of the owners of the Ladd apartment tower and the Ladd Carriage House. The financial turmoil has resulted in a change in ownership and marketing direction for the Ladd Carriage House.  The Friends of the Ladd Carriage House is pleased to report that the firm of CB Richard Ellis has taken on the task of marketing the LCH to potential buyers.  International real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis, headquartered in Los Angeles, has a major presence here in Portland and has begun an active marketing program.  They have prepared a detailed brochure for the building, featuring its outstanding site, available parking, and highly flexible interior spaces.  Download it here.  They have also posted an extensive listing on their website.  In recognition of the new real estate realities of 2010, the price for the Ladd Carriage House has been reduced to $1.5 million, substantially below the original asking price and below the actual cost to restore the building.  This represents a tremendous opportunity for the right buyer or long-term tenant to obtain an iconic Portland landmark building in a fabulous location for a price well below market.

To fully restored, May, 2009 More Photos

We Celebrate the Restoration of the Ladd Carriage House!!!

Following the return of the LCH to its original site on October 25, 2008, OpusNW's restoration of the exterior began under the direction of Venerable Properties, LLC, restoration architects Carleton Hart, and their prime restoration contractor Bremik Construction.  Since May, 2009, many months and thousands of skilled labor hours later, the Carriage House stands resplendent -- restored as closely to its original look as possible. 

Architects with Carleton Hart scoured the dozens of historic images uncovered by the Friends of the Ladd Carriage House to create plans which restored historic Victorian windows, lost ornament -- and even the original carriage doors on Columbia Street.  Dry rot was repaired, and some serious structural problems were corrected, while bringing the building up to modern safety and seismic codes.  Truly a "tour-de-force" of historic preservation.  The only feature not restored was the splendid cupola, lost to weather damage in the 1920's, which could not be reconstructed given the limitations of modern seismic engineering standards.

About the Ladd Carriage House

In 1883, pioneer Portland entrepreneur and banker William Sargeant Ladd built an elaborate Carriage House to stable his horses and carriages.  125 years later a determined group of concerned citizens has been working for the last 4 years to see that this last piece of Ladd's history is saved.

On the basis of the restoration work and the in-depth historic information drawn from the work of the Friends of the Ladd Carriage House, Opus Northwest and Venerable Properties, LLC, are submitting an application for the Ladd Carriage House to once again be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, now that it has been returned to its original site.

How Was it Saved?

The Ladd Carriage House was threatened with demolition because of plans to redevelop the entire block by its owner First Christian Church.  Their goals were to expand parking for church services and related events and to provide better meeting and community service facilities.  To finance these improvements meant construction of a high-rise residential structure with church facilities in its base and parking below that.  Originally the plan was for the new structure to fill all of the block not occupied by the Church itself.  The biggest challenge from a design standpoint was the Fellowship Hall needed by the Church.  This large meeting space was intended to occupy much of the east half of the block -- effectively forcing the Carriage House to find a new home.

The redesign of the Ladd building to accommodate the Fellowship Hall for First Christian Church inside the high-rise tower was the brilliant, but expensive, solution that permitted the Ladd Carriage House to be restored on its original site.  The relocated Hall presented a major architectural and engineering challenge since its clear span space required a ceiling strong enough to support 26 stories of apartment tower above!  And how to achieve that without sacrificing floor space for huge supporting beans?  Architects Ankrom-Moisan developed the solution: create massively deep but very narrow steel girders that run between the apartments on the first residential floor.  These provided the strength to support the tower above, while consuming relatively little valuable floor area.

What About the Rose Friend Apartments?

The preservation community deplores the destruction of the historic Rose Friend Apartments which shared the east half of the block with the Ladd Carriage House.  Yet sometimes difficult decisions must be made in the interest of saving some historic buildings while letting others go.  Read more here on the process that led to the loss of the Rose Friend...

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Site last updated November 28, 2010.

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