Portland opera General Director Robert Bailey tells GlobeSt.comthat the 12,000-sf second floor will be marketed for lease untilthe Opera grows into the space. "We are pricing the space very verycompetitively with the idea we can get a tenant in there quickly,"says Bailey. "We have a couple of very interested parties." MacadamForbes' Greg Burpee, who represented the Opera in the acquisition,has the leasing assignment.

The Portland Opera plans to move into the building in May. Onceit maxes out the building, Bailey says the Opera could then developthe adjacent parking lot to create more space. "It was an importantpart of the transaction," says Bailey.

Bailey says the Opera raised $3 million from a handful of majordonors and financed the rest with a five-year loan from StancorpFinancial that carries an interest rate of just below 6%. Baileysays his organization hopes to raise the rest of the acquisitioncost over the next several months and pay off the loan thissummer.