PDX Broker’s Commercial Insights: Article No. 4

The rain in Oregon has always had mixed reviews by the people who have had to endure it the usual ten out of twelve months of the year. This year has been especially interesting to watch weather wise, as it has been a record setting summer with temps in the high 90s and 100s being an average occurrence. With the constant sun this summer came some consistent problems for Commercial Real Estate owners: how to keep their buildings and centers clean?

While normally each property owner has some sort of janitorial services contract that takes care of their Center a few times a month, many have been surprised by just how dirty things can get when there is no rain for two to three months.

“I hope I can just get one of my owners to power wash this week,” exclaimed one Portland Property Manager. “Their center has so much caked on soda and food, it’s disgusting!” This particular property manager asked that she not be named in this article due to the Property Management Community in Portland and Vancouver being so small. That said, we shall call her ‘Edita’ for the sake of this article.

Soda was not the only problem Property Managers in the Portland Metro and SW Washington areas had seen this summer. Where traditionally you can get by with no sprinklers, plants have been dying left and right in the heat the last few months. Special efforts to have crews bring in hoses and water the plants have taken its toll on centers landscaping and janitorial budgets.

“We normally plant some small shrubs during these sunny months, but anything we plant right now has been dying due to the extreme weather,” stated Cheryl, a Property Manager who oversees properties all over the Portland Area.

Graffiti has also been a big issue as there are plenty of dry surfaces for local gangs of kids to paint on. “I have had to have paint crews cover up graffiti several times this summer,” said Edita. “Normally the rain keeps this number a lot lower.”

“We do have a higher rate [during the summer] of street kids hanging out on the sidewalk, so we spend extra time asking them to leave,” informed Loyda, a Property Manager who specializes in properties around the Downtown, Portland area. “The Summer months have brought a lot more of them into town.”

However, with seasonal rain about to start pouring back down on our lovely cities, the Property Management crews of Portland and Vancouver are getting ready to head back to the issues they are well versed with: Leaky roofs and flooding.

END

This article is part of the ‘PDX Broker’s Commercial Insights’ series for The Portlander. The column is written by PDX_Broker, a Portlander who works as a Commercial Real Estate Broker in Downtown, Portland. PDX_Broker specializes in Retail Properties and does both Landlord and Tenant representation throughout the Portland Metro and SW Washington areas. She writes frequently about the Commercial Real Estate Industry, Commercial Businesses, and Retail Owners in the Portland area.

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1. Oregon Represents in Summer Reality TV
2. Portland Poised for Real Estate Recovery?
3. Who Are The Portland Commercial Brokers?