CNF Transportation Negotiating for Leland James Center

The Multnomah County assessor's office values the land and improvements at $22 million. The asking price was said to be $28 million. Todd Collins of Macadam Forbes is handling the disposition. "It's not done by any means," Collins tells GlobeSt.com. "We're in negotiations and expecting to consummate a deal sometime in the near future."

Collins tells GlobeSt.com there is a request before the city to change the zoning from industrial to mixed use, and that if CNF built a parking structure, there would be plenty of room to add another building to the property. As for the future of the residential properties, Collins says, "the income it throws off still suggests it has economic value."

Consolidated is selling the Leland James Center because it is in the process of consolidating its operation in Vancouver, WA. At least a half-dozen would-be buyers completed interviews with Consolidated, but CNF was the first company it approached, says Collins, in part because of CNF's existing investments in the neighborhood.

CNF keeps its executive offices in Palo Alto, CA and its administrative offices here in Portland, where it employs some 1,300 people. Earlier this month, CNF opened a new 252,000-sf building at Northwest 21st Avenue and Savier Street to house its 850 information technology personnel. The building is located next to another CNF building at 1717 N.W. 21st Ave., which is located across the street from the Leland James Center.