Home At Last
Skynova has a new home, a permanent place to pursue our blend of design & manufacturing. Over the course of 13 months, we found a space, bought it, built it out, got permitting, and moved all of our stuff three miles north, from our old space in the Central Eastside Industrial district to our new neighborhood in North Portland.
Finding the Right Space
Portland is changing. The development blitz began a few years back and it hit the Central Eastside (our old neighborhood) with a fury. Tower cranes galore. Things changed rapidly—what had been auto shops were now chic cafes and hip creative agencies. Rents were rising (ours was set to triple), meaning people like us were getting displaced.
We decided to take matters into our own hands and buy a building. Ken, our co-founder and CEO, hit the pavement in the fall of 2017 to find a spot for our team, a permanent location we could grow into. Something that would preserve our brand of design and manufacturing and meaningful work.
We had unusual criteria for a manufacturing company – the building had to be in a walkable neighborhood, but also be zoned for manufacturing. We wanted something with historic character, in a place where we could stay integrated into the community. Almost magically, Ken found a winner right away. It’s an 8000 ft², heavy timber trussed building with a peeling stucco exterior. Built in 1922, it’s nestled next to a mini-mart in a residential neighborhood. Across the street is Peninsula Park, filled with gorgeous fir trees and a classic rose garden, perfect for walks and stopping to smell the roses, literally and figuratively.
When Ken found it, it had most recently been home to metalworkers and woodworkers. Before that it had been a casket factory, a call center, and originally an auto repair shop—honestly, it was a ‘fixer’, but it had great bones. We had a vision of how to make it ours. Six months later, two bank acquisitions and more paperwork than anyone would like to talk about, the building was ours. Now, just to get it ready for us to move in. How hard could that be?