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Had Bob Gerding chased his initial calling, he might be a university professor today, providing biochemical research and managing a laboratory full of graduate students.
Instead the ex-biochemist is instrumental in redefining 21st-century Portland, his hometown. As founder and co-principal of Gerding/Edlen Development Co, one of the Pacific Northwest's most ambitious commercial real estate consulting and development groups, Gerding is watching over Brewery Blocks, a five-city-block facelift in the Rose City's blossoming Pearl District neighborhood.
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Bob Gerding ’61, Principal, Gerding/Edlen Development
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When completed in early 2005, the $200 million project will have transformed three historic landmarks-including the legendary Blitz-Weinhard Brewhouse and the 112-year-old Portland Armory-into 1.7 million square feet of urban retail, office space, condominiums and parking. The design features modern amenities and infrastructure, but will remain loyal to the surrounding neighborhood and to the industrial charm of the former brewery.
And Gerding, who first envisioned Brewery Blocks more than five years ago from the roof of a nearby building his company had developed, can literally observe its progress from his office window.
"As a single project, this may be the largest mixed-use development this city has ever done at one time," says Gerding who graduated from Portland's Lincoln High School and holds a Ph.D. in Biology ('61). "To develop new environments and change the landscape, you must have landscape. I had wondered how long the old brewery would stay there, and I looked at it as land."
Gerding showed an early interest to city leaders, and once the Blitz-Weinhard closed in 1999, officials decided his plans for sustainable materials and a mixed-use development would match the aura of the neighborhood. A deal was struck.
In January 2000, Gerding/Edlen purchased the complex, assuring preservation of the historic buildings-including iconic structures such as stairs, railings and beams, and a $600,000 seismic upgrade to maintain the brewery's original chimney.
"There is a shared vision in the majority of redevelopments being done here that Portland remains a wonderful place to live, work and play," says Gerding. "It's easy to put up a high-rise tower with no relationship to what's around it. But you must respect the neighborhoods and environments around you."
Brewery Blocks is adjacent to the bustling Powell's Books, renowned as the world's largest bookstore, and Gerding predicts similar activity in and around the new complex, which he foresees as the gateway to the Pearl District.
"We aim to create street activity that goes on for eighteen hours a day," he says. "I see safe streets, good lighting, a mixture of activity and people spilling out onto the sidewalks. It's typical in the suburbs that you have to drive places. Here, you can walk from your home, or use a streetcar, and go to a grocery store, a medical facility, a park or the cultural center. That's Portland."
It was in Portland that Gerding and his wife Diana raised two children. Riding a biochemistry degree, Gerding found limited research funds during the Vietnam War. He shifted focus to medical biochemistry, which took him to St. Louis for several years before the Pacific Northwest called him home.
"My grandfather had a background in real estate development, so you could say it runs in the family," says Gerding, who formed Gerding Investment Company nearly two decades ago.
His partner Mark Edlen is also an Oregon grad. "I run into Oregon alumni often in this business," Gerding continues. "Architects, engineers-Oregon State folks, too, but you don't have to put that in there."
Gerding calls Brewery Blocks a "team effort," an accomplishment that one day will be measured by good tenants, successful residential sales, and a neighborhood and city that is joyful with the outcome. He's confident about all three.
"I am enjoying having something to do with the evolution of this city," he says. "It's not only exciting, it's a great privilege."
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