Chris Soderberg Chosen For Pearl Re Design

photo by Amy Ouellette 

Realtor Sasha Welford of Debbie Thomas Real Estate (402 NW 13th Ave, 503-226-2141), who sold Scott Showalter, the new president and CEO of the Oregon Symphony, his 11th-floor condominium, then referred him to Chris Soderberg Design (1110 NW Marshall St, 503-206-4096). Debbie Thomas and Soderberg have collaborated many times over the years. Both were part of developer John Carroll’s team during the Pearl’s first building wave, nearly 20 years ago. And recently, Soderberg remodeled Thomas’s Pearl District real estate offices, as well as the lobby of one of Carroll’s first buildings, the McKenzie Lofts.

“We’re seeing a whole second generation of Pearl buyers,” Soderberg says, “many of whom are making Portland their second home. They’re tearing things up—getting rid of granite and adding quartz—and they want to customize their spaces.”

Soderberg and Showalter hit it off immediately. “We walked through together and were both speaking the same contemporary language,” she says. “I felt strongly right away that we needed to go in a gray direction. His art has a lot of color.”