The Loft at the Red Building is back

Published 8:00 pm Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Evie Larson and Jessica Newhall have reopened the Loft at the Red Building and are readying for the area’s events with their new company, Eventscape LLC.

Newhall, who’s been in the events business for 15 years nationwide, said Ann Samuelson brought her and Larson, co-owner of Trail’s End Recovery with husband Dean and an event organizer on the side, to The Loft and shared her enthusiasm about its potential. It had been closed since March 2013, when Unionfish Properties, owner of the Red Building, decided to convert it into office space, citing the difficulty of finding uses for the space in the winter months.

“The economy takes its toll on everybody,” said Newhall. “We’re just happy to be ably to come in and preserve it.”

The Loft is mostly a turnkey operation, its 6,000 square feet of meeting space meticulously restored by Unionfish Properties with reclaimed materials and modern technological amenities. The space sits atop the Bridgewater Bistro and looks out on the Columbia River, just west of the Astoria Bridge.

Eventscape added a bridal/conference room just behind the main hall. It rents the entire space, which fits 325 people theater style and 275 banquet, for $400 to $1,500 a day, depending on the season.

Newhall focuses on marketing and advertising, while Larson focuses on putting together the events.

“We don’t want to copy other events happening annually,” said Larson, explaining their drive to create original events such as trade or food shows to increase use of the space.

“It’s a great canvas,” said Newhall. “We can get creative.”

For more information on The Loft, visit www.theredbuildingloft.com/ or call 503-325-2223.

The entire Red Building at 20 Basin St. has been up for sale for about a year, listed Ann Samuelson, who said she’s trying to fill it up with tenants and establish a positive cash flow to make the building marketable.

“The red building is surrounded by 600 hotel rooms,” said Samuelson, referencing such close-by lodgings as the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, Best Western Lincoln Inn and Cannery Pier Hotel. “I see an opportunity for business development to come out of events they do there.”

The building, built in 1954 at 15,700 square feet and sited on leased land from the Port of Astoria, mainly houses Eventscape in The Loft and the Bridgewater Bistro downstairs, with offices for attorneys, financial managers and mental health professionals downstairs. It’s listed for $2 million.

‘It’s a great canvas. We can get creative.’

— Jessica Newhall

co-owner