Aid group's new HQ will be educational and "green"

PORTLAND — Mercy Corps is building a new headquarters in Portland that will incorporate green building practices and an education center that will offer visitors a virtual tour of poverty.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, with plans to occupy the new headquarters in the summer of 2009.

"I wish we could just wave a wand and be in," said Neil Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corp's chief executive.

Mercy Corps is an aid group with programs that reach from the Northwest to New Orleans to Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is based in Portland but also has a Seattle office, and is part of an expanding network of Pacific Northwest organizations that are tackling issues of international development, public health and disaster assistance.

Mercy Corps' $25 million investment in the heart of Portland's Old Town district will involve a renovation and expansion of a historic landmark, the Skidmore Fountain Building next to the Saturday Market.

The building will include a roof layer of soil and vegetation to reduce stormwater runoff and filter pollutants, and will also have photovoltaic cells to harness solar energy. It is designed to achieve a LEED Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest rating of its kind.

The ground level "Action Center," hopes to engage tourists, students and other visitors with video and other media, including Google Earth mapping technology, to spur them to join the effort to combat hunger and poverty.

Mercy Corps expects to have some 200 staff housed in the new headquarters.There will be a ground-floor office for the Pacific Northwest aid program that offers microloans and other assistance to low-income people in the region.

The Lemelson Foundation, which works in the U.S. and developing countries, will be a co-owner of the new building, and also have its offices there.

Since its founding in 1979, Mercy Corps has provided about $1.3 billion in assistance to people in 100 nations.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com