Black White Building
mixed-use office and retail

This adaptive infill project on NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. has become a community anchor for small businesses. The project reused an abandoned industrial warehouse to create an expansive 10,000 square-foot commercial building, home to a group of local retailers and creative companies. The building is also home to the main offices of The Sakura Group. The use of modern design elements and the abundance of natural daylight create the perfect environment for entrepreneurial companies. The large, open, and highly visible spaces used by street-level retailers have proved to be exceedingly successful due to location selection and the ample parking provided.

Aside from meeting our baseline for sustainable features—including the use of rapidly renewable products such as bamboo flooring, the use of low VOC finishes and paints, and the selection of energy efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures—the Black and White Building used both recycled denim insulation and original, old-growth fir beams salvaged from the site. The building’s most sustainable component, however, is its power to revitalize the neighborhood and provide a thriving location for small businesses in the community.

The Sakura Group worked with the Portland Development Commission (PDC) in securing Development Opportunity and Storefront Improvement grants for the Black and White Building.