Phil Knight’s Obsession with the Suburban Campus


One of the cool things about settling in NW Portland is that I could tell friends and family back east that I was living a few blocks from the Will Vinton Studios, home of “Claymation” and the California Raisins.

Phil Knight became an investor, and ultimately owner of the studios, changing the name to Laika, Inc. a little while back. Now comes word that Phil has bought 30 acres in Tualatin to build a campus for Laika. So much for the cool factor in Northwest.

But wait! Last week the Oregonian reported that to complete its next project, Laika will be renting more space in Northwest on an interim basis.

Which got me thinking, why does Laika need one of those infamous “shovel ready” industrial sites to do its thing? This is all about computer animation and stop-motion animation. Does that need individual spaces much bigger than a Pearl District condo (well, a penthouse anyway)? Why can’t Phil build up instead of out? There’s lot of land in the “transition area” in NW Portland (the old Consolidated Freightways site). Why the rush to the burbs? Surely Laika’s young creatives would prefer to be in the middle of a happening city scene. And if Joe Cortright’s data is correct, they probably live near the city center too. That’s a long reverse commute!

So what’s with Phil’s decision? Is it just habit, an homage to the Nike campus? Does Phil secretly like sprawl and congestion? Is he allergic to city streets?

Let’s have some new thinking. After all, if Laika (the dog) could rocket into space, surely Laika (the studio) could rocket into some high-rise offices.

[Deep painful confession: since moving to Oregon in 1988 I have been employed exclusively at offices in suburban campuses, in Beaverton or Wilsonville. However, since 2000, I have primarily been a telecommuter, working from my home office in Northwest Portland and commuting to Wilsonville one day a week by a combination of bike and bus.

Sentimental reminiscence: I can remember when we used to look out the windows at the Tek campus in Wilsonville and see deer licking up the water from the sprinklers on dry August days. It’s been many years since that scene, as the nearby land is all subdivisions now. Imagine what that would look like without the UGB.]


22 responses to “Phil Knight’s Obsession with the Suburban Campus”

  1. This phenomenon is hardly unique to Phil Knight. Between 1996 and 2004, total employment in downtown Portland has been flat. Virtually all of the job growth has occurred outside the central city so the Laika announcement is just an example of a larger and more ominous trend. It is worth discussing why this is happening. Is it local taxes, rental rates, traffic/access, tastes and preferences, or something else. I don’t know the answer.

    It is also worth asking whether this is a negative trend or not. Only 25% of the residents of region live within the city of Portland. Don’t we want more jobs near where people live? If so, doesn’t that mean more suburban job growth? I am more concerned about the form of these developments in the suburbs (i.e. are they in a designated center served by good transit) rather than the mere fact that they are in the suburbs.

  2. Brian –

    Regarding your statement that “total employment in downtown Portland has been flat”, I think limited in growth would be a better phrase. There are more downtown jobs now than ever before, but because the population is growing faster in other counties (which makes sense because Multnomah County has been established longer as a population center), the overall percentage share of jobs for Portland has been declining.

    Take a look at the Metro Regional Data Book:
    http://www.metro-region.org/library_docs/maps_data/metroregionaldatabookjan2005.pdf

    I’m looking at the table on page 64 of the document (page 69 of the PDF), “Employment by County Subareas, selected years”.

    For the downtown area (“Subarea 1”), employment increased from 110,468 to 121,222 (9.7%) between 1996 and 2000. For Multnomah County as a whole, employment increased from 520,143 to 565,495 (8.7%), so during that time downtown employment was actually doing a tad better than the county as a whole.

    Clackamas County, in the same period, went from 155,788 to 175,070 (12.4%), not surprising given the growth in population, and Clark County did only 137,585 to 138,174 (zero point 4 percent!).

    Clark County is doing great in adding homes, but lousy in job growth… most of the new Clark County residents need to commute elsewhere to work.

    To me, this indicates that the metro region needs to increase efforts to make housing and transportation choices affordable to those who want to live closer to work.

    – Bob R.

  3. Bob – the information that you are referring to goes through 2000. My understanding is that downtown Portland lost jobs between 2000 through 2004 and is now back to approximately 1996 levels for total employment, but total regional employment has grown. I will try to find a specific reference for this data. Too bad we don’t yet have date from 2005 since job growth was very strong and it could tell us more about the spatial distribution of employment now that the economy is improving.

  4. Brian –

    The numbers on page 7 of the data book are compiled from a different mix of sources and go up to 2003. They do not break out downtown, just the counties. But for what it’s worth:

    Multnomah County Employment:
    1996 636,000
    1997 639,000
    1998 641,900
    1999 646,850
    2000 660,486
    2001 666,350
    2002 666,350
    2003 670,250

    Things look pretty stagnant between 2001-2002, but I think there is a typo or a gap in the data because the 2002 numbers are identical to the 2001 numbers for all counties listed.

    – Bob R.

  5. writer Jorgen Klubien (who co-wrote “Cars” and now works for Laika) moved into my inner SE neighborhood, Hosford-Abernethy, and even came to our last neighborhood association meeting. Very cool guy.

    I wonder what tax breaks Phil Knight is anticipating in Tualatin…is he in an unincorporated area the State Legislature can guarantee him will never be in a city, and pay city taxes?

  6. Brian, I think you’re missing two critical points:

    1) Don’t we want to reserve 30-acre shovel-ready sites for truly industrial businesses that require a horizontal layout for their processes?

    2) Shouldn’t an intellectual capital company like Laika be in a Center (even if not central Portland)?

    I don’t see what Laike needs in Tualatin that it can’t get in Portland, and it seems to confound the directions we’re encouraging for regional land use.

  7. I sure can tell you want the north end of
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  8. Don’t we want to reserve 30-acre shovel-ready sites for truly industrial businesses that require a horizontal layout for their processes?

    Lets be clear, those 30 acre sites will mostly be parking lots if the rest of the region is any example. All you need to do is look at the acres of parking around Intel and Nike to know that there is no shortage of industrial land. If there was, you would see parking structures instead.

    The problem is that we don’t get to decide where Phil Knight locates or what he does with his land. He clearly believes campuses that isolate employees with one another from the rest of the world are better creative environments. Is he wrong?

  9. I think its about control. Cities are dynamic places that change. He can’t control every aspect of a city campus. Out on virgin green fields, in essence he can be god, building his little garden of Eden where he controls everything without the worr y of any of his subjects being tempted by ideas the big bad city offers.

    With that said, a few years back I was told by a Nike employee that on the Nike Campus he swears he saw a gardener after hours spray painting some leaves on bushes with green paint to make them look nice. If true, thats all you need to know about Phil Knight and the reasons for a virgin campus.

  10. If true, thats all you need to know about Phil Knight and the reasons for a virgin campus.

    Or the lengths a gardener will go to to make it look like the plants are healthy.

    I think it is a mistake to criticize Phil Knight with the assumption that he is irrational. Colleges have had campuses for a very long time that were intended to build creative communities. Afterall, the only thing that distinguishes a Nike from any other shoe is the swoosh and the creativity put into marketing them.

  11. Ross Williams The problem is that we don’t get to decide where Phil Knight locates or what he does with his land.
    JK: No Ross, that is not a problem, it is a fundamental right. A right to be free of YOU telling him how to live. It is just like you have a right to be free of having to live the way George Bush wants you to live. These are freedoms that are the foundation of our country. And one reason that we have one of the highest standards of living i the world.

    Ross Williams He clearly believes campuses that isolate employees with one another from the rest of the world are better creative environments. Is he wrong?
    JK: Is his company successful? Maybe he is doing something right. Maybe he knows more than you do about his business. Maybe he (and many other businesses) know better how to run their businesses (ie: create jobs for you) than you or the elected officials.

    Thanks
    JK

  12. If thats the case Jim, do we the public have to build him a new highway interchange when his choice creates traffic problems for that area? His choices does effect the public. The city proper is uniquely qualified to handle the work force required for this campus because it is the only area of the region with sufficent multimodel transportation choices in place, Tualatin does not, being that it only offers ONE transportation choice for workers. If Knight wants to control his environment, fine, but do NOT come back years from now and expect the public to bail him out of the one mode transportation Knightmare he’s creating.

  13. Tualatin does not, being that it only offers ONE transportation choice for workers.

    But isn’t it the responsibility of the region to provide more than one mode for whatever business locates there? How do you blame Knight for locating his business on land the region planned for employment and then failed to support with a multi-modal transportation system?

  14. I’ve spoken to at LEAST 10-15 small businesses that would love to be downtown. But they can’t afford it, and they’re affraid if they do go downtown they’re liable for far more than they are in Beaverton or Hillsboro or Gresham.

    Every one of them did agree what the primary cost issue was.

    Taxes.

    Everyone of them agreed almost across the board that they’re affraid of what the city might “enact”, or “pass”.

    So forcing more affordable houses, pushing more on businesses for taxes, not keeping certain transient types from store fronts, all of these things weight VERY heavily on small business decisions to locate downtown. The City Gov’ isn’t helping at all, and forcing more people to do specific things it sees fit isn’t going to help either.

    As for Knight. It’s a no brainer. He’s a businessman, he sees a much more reasonable priced plot where he can build a lot more building, on top of that after the fiasco with Beaverton I’m sure he’s interetested in staying as far away from these “tax beggers” and other types that want to lay down more regulation etc. Plus one has to remember, he’s gotta be responsible to actually make money to pay these people, it’s most likely much easier to do out in those parts. I’d also gander that there are just as many if not more creative types between Hillsboro, Beaverton, and on down to Tigard as there are in the Portland area. Wherever he goes, he’ll get the people he needs.

  15. Every one of them did agree what the primary cost issue was.

    Taxes.

    They obviously haven’t looked at the price per square foot of office space.

    We keep hearing about how downtown Portland isn’t competitive. And, while I am sure all the downtown property owners would love to get higher rents, the truth is downtown office space is expensive. So while Business Alliance insists Portland isn’t competitive, the market disagrees.

    And one of the reasons downtown Portland is thriving is the taxes that the business community complains so much about.

  16. The simplest explanation is that Knight doesn’t want to be beholden to the politics and tax dollar thirst of Portland city government. Can you blame him? The hip factor of being downtown or in the Pearl can easily go away if the city council (or county guv) is constantly devising more regulations, fees, licensing costs, zoning requirements, et al. that eat into the bottom line. Hence, why many longtime downtown retailers and small businesses have fled to the ‘burbs or shuttered their doors.

    It also bears mention that everytime the mayor or council gets the urge to fight global warming (Randy Leonard’s bio-diesel / ethanol only in PDX proposal) or Washington (leaving JTTF) or make biz help pay for yet another overpriced “quality of life” scam like the OHSU Tram, those moves give business the impression that elected leaders are unstable, incompetent or too far left to deal with. That uncertainty (or activism depending on your POV) scares business owners and they will locate to a nice bucolic ‘burb where the local officials will roll out the red carpet and offer you the world for a handful of tax dollars and jobs.

  17. Hence, why many longtime downtown retailers and small businesses have fled to the ‘burbs or shuttered their doors.

    Except that hasn’t really happened. As the numbers show, employment in Portland is growing. And as the market shows, the cost of office space in Portland remains higher than most suburban locations. So while the business politicians say one thing, actual business people are doing another. Of course they would all like lower costs, but the benefits of being in Portland outweigh the extra costs for a lot of businesses.

  18. Chris,

    Can you explain this statement: I don’t see what Laike needs in Tualatin that it can’t get in Portland, and it seems to confound the directions we’re encouraging for regional land use.

    I thought the regional plan was for people and jobs to be located around regional centers. Our plan is not for all jobs to be located in the City Center, is it?

    So I don’t understand why having a low impact light industrial firm locating in Tualatin is necessarily a problem.

    As to where creative class types want to live, again I’m not so sure. An increasing number of the “creative class” types that I run with are buying houses in Tualatin, Tigard, Beaverton, and Vancouver. As they age, get married, and contemplate a family, Portland just doesn’t seem like the right place anymore.

    I don’t presume to know what kind of mix of employees Laika will have, but I’m not sure you should, either.

  19. Paul, I’d be fine if Phil wanted to move to one of the regional or town centers. But he’s moving to a 30-acre campus, not a center, for a business that could go in one medium-rise office building.

    I would contend that Laika is not “light industrial” but essentially an “office” business with a handful of studios.

    If we want to preserve farm and forest land (as the polls indicate has broad consensus in the region) then things that can be organized vertically need to be.

  20. A few comments (I’m not taking sides on this one, because I don’t know what Phil really intends to do…)

    1. This is an existing business that already sits in central Portland. That this business is moving out of town makes the reasons (whatever those details may be) worth discussing.

    2. The trend among a number of creative businesses has been to move closer in, more urban. Macromedia is a fine example of this. In the film/animation/cgi business, Lucasfilm has relocated from suburban Marin County to the former Presidio in San Francisco.

    3. If Phil’s long-term intention is to build out a full-fledged movie studio (something that Oregon sadly lacks… production leapfrogs us to Vancouver BC that would be potentially cost-effective to produce here), he’ll need those 30 acres.

    So, I’m waiting for the details.

    – Bob R.

  21. Ross Williams: The problem is that we don’t get to decide where Phil Knight locates or what he does with his land.

    JK: No Ross, that is not a problem, it is a fundamental right. A right to be free of YOU telling him how to live.

    What Phil Knight is doing is telling all 200 of his current employees how THEY are going to live — specifically, that they’re going to commute to work and back on I-5 for an hour every day, or else they’re de-facto fired. My wife is one of those employees, and we think it sucks. So does everybody else I know at the company. We moved to Portland to escape the suburban-commuter lifestyle that’s destroyed the rest of the west coast.

    But nobody at Laika feels like they have any choice in the matter — there’s no other place in town for animators to work. Probably at least a few fully-employed, seasoned animators at Laika will drop out of their chosen profession and struggle to find another job somewhere in town. The rest of us will take on the added financial and time burden of this commute, so that Phil Knight doesn’t have to pay as much for real estate. It’s a shift of operating costs from the business to the employees — i.e. a pay cut.

    If Laika was a union shop, this would never happen. I like Phil, but I don’t think he understands what he’s doing to Laika with this move. I wish more Laika employees would speak up about it.

  22. I live in the Lents Urban Renewal Area which has had some problems luring businesses. One thing that we do have is a beautiful building in the town center that would be ideal for a production house similar to Will Vinton/ Laika in Northwest Portland. I worked at Vintons for a while about 10 years ago, and the dynamics of this building would be better suited for a studio than the building Laika is in now- although it is slightly smaller perhaps. It’s too bad we didn’t catch PK’s attention- a bunch of young creative hispster in the neighborhood would’ve really got things going around here! Anyone know about any small studios around town that are thinking about expanding?

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