A nonprofit organization that focuses on helping consumers save money on their energy bills has sparked some leasing momentum in Portland, Oregon.
Energy Trust of Oregon signed a lease last year for office space in the Power and Light Building, a 16-story, 304,298-square-foot property located at 920 SW Sixth Ave. in downtown Portland. The building was constructed in 1927 and renovated in 2018, according to CoStar data. The property owner is The Green Cities Co., a Portland-based real estate investment management firm.
Energy Trust of Oregon is an independent nonprofit group that collaborates with consumers, utility companies, community-based organizations and local governments to help lower utility bills, save energy and adopt renewable energy resources.
Its lease came as the downtown Portland office market continued to struggle with high vacancy. As of mid-March, the submarket's vacancy rate stands at nearly 29%, according to CoStar data. Local commercial real estate experts said that a lease by a notable organization such as Energy Trust can boost confidence for other tenants and property owners downtown by spurring more foot traffic and activity.
Energy Trust's deal has been selected by a panel of local industry professionals as the winner of the 2026 CoStar Impact Awards for lease of the year for Portland.
About the deal: Energy Trust of Oregon signed its lease for 20,655 square feet of office space in the Power and Light Building in April 2025. The group's relocation to the building marked a more than 50% reduction in its physical workspace. Its new office is serviced by multiple different forms of public transportation.
What the judges said: "The [central business district] office market is still characterized by a higher negative absorption and vacancy than other office submarkets in the Portland metro area," said Julia Freybote, associate professor of finance and real estate at Portland State University. "A highly visible and impactful organization such as the Energy Trust of Oregon relocating to downtown sends an important signal. It hopefully will help bring more foot traffic/activity to downtown, motivate more organizations/firms to consider a relocation to this submarket and provide more confidence for CBD property owners/investors, existing tenants and the general public."
"Connecting Energy Trust with this central and historic property is a great indicator of things to come," said Will Dowdy, community development director with the city of Eugene, Oregon.
They made it happen: Eric Haskins, managing director at JLL, represented the landlord in the transaction. Andrew Rosengarten, senior managing director, and Cayla Wardenburg, executive vice president, at JLL represented the tenant.