Fast-growing Adidas will more than double the size of its North
American headquarters when it builds three more buildings on its North
Portland campus.
The company will launch construction in late summer or early fall on
two three-story buildings and a five-story structure totaling 425,000
square feet. Currently, Adidas has its 1,700 local employees squeezed
into 365,000 square feet of space.
Adidas is the hottest brand in the athletic footwear and apparel
business. It continues to win market share from industry leader Nike.
Net sales grew 16 percent to more than $24 billion in 2017.
Adidas has felt no affect, its executives claim, from the pay-to-play
scandal in U.S. college basketball. Two Adidas officials are among the
nine charged with fraud and other charges.
The new expansion plan has grown considerably more ambitious as
Adidas' market momentum has continued. In October, Adidas North America
President Mark King said the company would add an additional 200,000
square feet of space. Five months later, the company has decided to more
than double that.
King also said in October that the new space would allow Adidas to increase the size of its local workforce from 1,700 to 2,800.
It's unclear whether the subsequent increase in planned new
construction also indicates Adidas' staffing plans have also ratcheted
upwards. Adidas officials declined to comment.
Some neighbors have complained about the crowds at the Adidas
complex, and about employees and visitors to the facility parking on
neighborhood streets. Company officials met with members of the
Overlook
Neighborhood Association on Tuesday night to inform them of the
expansion.
To address the crowding, Adidas is moving its popular employee store
from the current campus on North Greeley Avenue to the Montgomery Park
building in Northwest Portland.
"We're looking at a situation where the people living just across the
street from Adidas are not happy, and I don't blame them," said Chris
Trejbal, head of the Overlook association. "We're talking about a lot of
people, lots of crowds. And now we're talking about new three-story and
five-story buildings."
Yet, Trejbal gave Adidas credit for proactively informing neighbors
of its plans. He also said the new employee parking included in the
expansion plan will help alleviate congestion. Currently, neighborhood
streets in the immediate vicinity are often jammed with Adidas visitors
and customers.
"Parking is a problem right now," Trejbal said. "But they're building
a bunch of new spaces, supposedly enough for all the employees."
Part of the new construction will be an underground parking facility. "They said they're going down five stories," Trejbal said.
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