Portland’s skyline-defining ‘Big Pink’ office tower sold at markdown price

The downtown Portland U.S. Bancorp Tower, known familiarly as “Big Pink,” has sold after just two months on the market.

The tower — Oregon’s largest office building — was being marketed for sale by real estate brokerage JLL. Last year, U.S. Bank declined to renew its lease at its namesake tower, leaving the building largely empty.

The buyer, as the Portland Business Journal first reported, is Jeff Swickard, a telecommunications and auto industry executive. Swickard lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where his automotive business is headquartered, and owns a summer house in Oregon.

Swickard paid about $45 million in an all-cash deal for the tower, according to a spokesperson — just 12% of the $372.5 million seller UBS paid in 2015.

Swickard, who runs Swickard Auto Group and owns properties in California, Nevada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Texas, said the purchase is a “full-circle” moment.

“More than 25 years ago, I graduated from the University of Oregon. Like so many others, I admired the Portland skyline from afar, with Big Pink standing tall as a symbol of what was possible,” Swickard said in a news release. “I even interviewed for a job in the tower early in my career. To now become its owner is a full-circle moment, one that carries both meaning and responsibility.”

Swickard said he plans to spend millions more to attract new tenants to the building. Early plans on the building’s revitalization, Swickard said, could include a skybridge from an adjacent parking lot to the offices, “multi floor experiences” for tenants, fitness facilities, coffee shops, restaurants and more.

He said the spending would be needed to overcome the deterrent he sees in Portland’s taxes.

“Portland is not organically attracting businesses,” Swickard said. “People are leaving Portland, unfortunately, because of the tax problem. So in order to bring them to Portland, you have to do something extraordinarily special for them and that is unique to a tenant.”

Swickard said he might spend $150 million over 10 years.

Praising the ambitious turnaround plans for Big Pink, Mayor Keith Wilson on Wednesday promised City Hall was “ready to work alongside Jeff to support tenants, boost confidence and ensure that downtown remains a great place to live, work and build.”

COVID-19, a shift to remote work and the city’s continued grapple with its national reputation after 2020 protests brought low the Goliaths of Portland commercial real estate. Menashe Properties, a local family-run real estate firm, acquired Montgomery Park, Portland’s third-largest office complex in 2024 for $33 million — likewise a fraction of its former worth.

CEO Jordan Menashe said Big Pink’s sale to Swickard represents how the city’s office market is hitting reset as high-end buildings go for bottom-shelf prices, which encourages investors to reenter the market.

“This transaction is wonderful for the market,” he said, “and allows for the bottoming out process to take hold.”

Swickard said he hoped to make downtown Portland the thriving center it was during his college years at the University of Oregon. One way to do that, he said, is by discounting rents in the building and attracting Portland suburb workers to the city instead.

“I just want to bring people back to downtown Portland and I want the Big Pink to be what it once was, which is, the most iconic (building),” he said. “(It’s) just a really special place for people to come and do business and have dinner and enjoy themselves.”

UBS had owned the property for a decade. Its partner, Unico Properties of Seattle, will continue to manage the 42-story building.

In a 2023 lawsuit against Unico, a former tenant, Digital Trends, alleged that lapses in security left the building unsafe at times for its workers. The lawsuit has since been settled.

Swickard says he plans on ensuring worker and building safety at the tower by continuing to spend money on private security.

“It is like a mini police department in and around that building with our private security,” he said. Swickard said he was hopeful that Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s focus on reducing homelessness and improving public safety would pay dividends near Big Pink.

Swickard plans to add to his Oregon real estate portfolio this year, saying he would spend nearly $100 million on investments in the state. He did not disclose any other transactions.

Swickard plans to hold focus groups and to talk with tenants in the U.S. Bancorp Tower about their wants and needs for both the building and downtown Portland.

“We’re not building flippers,” he said. “I want to own this for a very long time. I love Oregon.”