FILE - The U.S. Bancorp Tower towers over a popular city slogan in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 19, 2012.
Don Ryan / AP
One of downtown Portland’s most iconic skyscrapers has been listed for sale, a sign of the sluggish recovery of the area following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Real estate firm JLL listed the U.S. Bancorp Tower, also known as “Big Pink,” for sale in late April. The 42-story, 1.15-million-square-foot building is currently owned and operated by Seattle-based firm Unico Properties.
In this listing, JLL highlighted the building’s history, while acknowledging its need for a makeover.
“The Property presents a one-of-a-kind opportunity to rebrand and reimagine an irreplicable asset,” the listing reads. “Portland will never see another building like U.S. Bancorp Tower, considering the asset’s extraordinary scale and the complete absence of new development planned in the urban core for the foreseeable future.”
The U.S. Bancorp Tower was completed in 1983 and has become an iconic part of Portland’s skyline. Much of the building is covered in pink granite that makes it appear to glow in the sunlight.
As with many other buildings downtown, its fortunes have declined in recent years. The area has yet to fully rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw more people working from home and fewer commuting to large office buildings.
Vacancy for office spaces in Portland climbed to nearly 25% during the first quarter of 2025, according to a report by Colliers.
“Big Pink” may have the most pronounced vacancy rate of all — just 60% of its office spaces are occupied, according to Gendrit Hoxha, a Portland-based research analyst for Colliers.
The building’s largest tenant and namesake, U.S. Bank, is also in the process of leaving, which could drop the building’s occupancy rate to 40%. Hoxha said whoever decides to buy will likely have to wait several years for surrounding area to rebound.
“Whoever buys it has to have a lot of patience — and a lot of capital,” Hoxha said.
And it’ll likely come at a discounted price. The building last sold in 2015 for $372 million. With the high rate of vacancies, Hoxha said he expects the building could sell for less than $100 million.
Update: The vacancy rate listed for U.S. Bancorp Tower has been updated to reflect a new estimate that Colliers sent to OPB on May 20.
