Amazon plans to substantially boost its Portland outpost by leasing space in a new building across the street from its current location at the south end of downtown.

AWS Elemental, Amazon's Portland subsidiary, said Amazon will lease 85,000 square feet in the Broadway Tower. That's cater-corner from Elemental's current offices in the former Oregonian building at the corner of Southwest Broadway and Columbia.

Amazon employs about 400 at its current site, a mix of Elemental staff and Amazon workers. It has room to expand in its current office, which totals 100,000 square feet, and the new space could accommodate another 400.

The Portland Business Journal first reported Amazon's plans.

Elemental declined to comment on the new lease except to say Amazon is "leasing the space as a normal part of scaling to meet the needs of its customers." Also Friday, Amazon said it plans to lease more office space near its Seattle headquarters.

The company said the new Portland office is unrelated to Amazon's search for a second headquarters. Portland and hundreds of other cities submitted bids for that new headquarters complex, but Portland is an extreme longshot because of its proximity to Seattle.

The Broadway Tower is a 19-story building on the site of a former gas station. Due to open later this year, it will house a Radisson hotel and office space.

AWS Elemental provides tools for broadcasters to stream video online. Founded in 2006, Elemental sold to Amazon in 2015 for $296 million and has expanded considerably since. It moved to its current site last summer.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699