Menashe Properties Buys Building That Abuts Troubled Washington Center

An entity controlled by Menashe Properties, the company that oversaw the decay of Washington Center in downtown Portland, bought the building that shares the block at a bargain price, property records show.

LBJ Gill LLC paid $3.25 million for the newly refurbished, 90,000-square-foot building, records show, or about $36 a square foot. The building sold for $9.85 million, or $109 a square foot, in 2018. The owners defaulted in 2022 after remodeling the tower. It went to auction in November, but no one made a cash bid, so the lender took it over.

The building struggled to attract tenants in part because the neighboring Washington Center complex turned into a open-air fentanyl market during the pandemic. Menashe Properties fenced the complex after it became vacant but failed to maintain the barriers, allowing people to infiltrate the building.

Jordan Menashe, the manager of LBJ Gill LLC, confirmed the sale to WW in a text message.

“Our purchase price on the deed pal,” Menashe wrote. “No other comment to you.”

Jordan is the son of Menashe Properties founder Barry Menashe.

In the past, the Menashes have blamed the city for the state of Washington Center. Last year, when WW wrote about the decline of the property, Barry’s daughter Lauren answered questions by email. Her family’s firm planned to sell the building to a developer, but COVID-19 and Portland’s inclusionary zoning policies scared off buyers, she said at the time. Measure 110, which decriminalized the personal possession of some hard drugs, was “another dagger.”