The Port of Portland has approved a lease for the University of Oregon’s acoustic research laboratory, planned for the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at Terminal 2. As anchor tenant, the new lab is a key part of the Port’s plans to transform the former marine terminal into a manufacturing hub to grow the region’s mass timber industry.
“The Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus brings together leaders from all sectors to transform and grow Oregon industries,” said Kimberly Branam, Port of Portland Chief Trade and Economic Development Officer, who added the university’s leadership in acoustics testing will be key to the manufacturing hub’s success.
According to Anshuman Razdan, the University of Oregon’s Vice President for Research and Innovation, the first-of-its-kind (for North America) laboratory “will be able to perform high-performance and high-throughput testing for sound-dampening products and construction methods, primarily targeting the reduction of sound transmission between multistory, multifamily housing units. In addition, “the lab will be designed for the needs of researchers and private-sector testing.”
Wood Central understands that the University of Oregon’s Oregon Acoustic Research Laboratory (OARL) will be a state-of-the-art facility for conducting acoustics tests of mass-timber floor-ceiling assemblies to support the expansion of the mass-timber industry. Currently, there is a lack of facilities capable of performing this testing, with OARL providing certified acoustic test results needed for code compliance to increase the utilisation of mass-timber assemblies in low-, mid-, and high-rise housing, as well as commercial buildings.
The new lab is expected to undergo design and permitting in 2025, followed by construction in 2026, with building completion scheduled for the latter half of 2027. The Port and UO are members of the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (OMTC), which in 2022 received a $41.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge to develop a comprehensive strategy for expanding the use of mass timber in the housing market. The grant included $10 million for the Port toward campus infrastructure development and $14.6 million toward the development of UO’s acoustics research lab, along with OMTC projects in other areas of the state.
Along with the OMTC grant, the Port received $4 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funding in 2024 and $5 million from the Oregon Legislature in 2023 toward campus development. In addition to approving the UO lease on Wednesday, the Port Commission approved an agreement with Zaugg Timber Solutions (ZTS), the Oregon-based arm of Zaugg, a third-generation, family-owned Swiss company with extensive experience in timber engineering, manufacturing and construction.
ZTS will open an interim manufacturing facility in a warehouse previously renovated by Modomi – paving the way for ZTS to partner on a new mass timber modular factory, which will be the centrepiece of the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus. The Port expects a long-term lease for the permanent facility to be ready for approval in spring 2025.
About the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at Terminal 2
With our three airports, four marine terminals, and five business parks, the Port of Portland is an economic engine for transforming the region into a place where everyone is welcome, empowered, and connected to the opportunity to find a good job or grow their business.
When complete, the 39-acre Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus (MTHIC) will include a new factory for building modular housing and other mass timber structures, research and development of new products and technologies, workforce training, and space to help small businesses scale and new companies get off the ground. It will also be the new home of the University of Oregon’s Energy Studies in Building Laboratory.
Soil stabilisation and critical infrastructure improvements will occur over the next few years. Housing production is expected to begin on-site in early 2026, and Phase 1 of campus development will be completed and fully operational in 2028. Phase 1 includes upriver soil stabilisation, utility extensions, pavement improvements, campus-wide frontage improvements, and establishing anchor tenants.
