Built in 1889 to store dry goods, the Overland Warehouse in Northwest Portland became a bunkhouse for Chinese laborers. A portal in the basement led to the city's notorious "Shanghai Tunnels." (See clarification below)

In recent decades, the decaying brick building in Old Town Chinatown held the Magic Garden restaurant and strip club.

The structure at Northwest Fourth and Davis was once owned by a Chinese benevolent association, the Suey Sing Society, and is sometimes called the Suey Sing building. The upper floors had been vacant since the 1940s and the windows on those floors had been boarded up for years.

Now, following a full-year overhaul, the Overland has re-emerged as the home of the tech company that makes TriMet's mobile ticketing app. Moovel, the urban transportation subsidiary of German carmaker Daimler, set up in two of the old warehouse's three floors this week.

Coming this weekend

Why Daimler picked Portland for a big bet on the future of urban transportation.

Moovel's arrival in the neighborhood is the latest example of how Portland's booming tech scene is transforming the city's core. Portland's Urban Development Partners spent more than a year, and upwards of $3.5 million, rehabilitating the Overland.

Urban Development Partners project manager Joren Bass said the investment reflects ongoing revitalization in Old Town Chinatown and the historic nature of the Overland itself.

"You can't create space like that in a new building. It's just impossible," Bass said. "You can't find timber like that anymore."

Moovel chief operating officer Sadhana Shenoy said the goal was to build community among employees, drawing on the building's unique history.

Tech digs

With technology employees in high demand, companies seek to attract workers with attractive offices filled with amenities. Here's a look at some other tony tech quarters across the Portland area:

(Old Town Chinatown)

(Downtown)

(Downtown)

(Hillsboro)

(Downtown)

(Downtown)

(Hillsboro)

(Central eastside)

(Downtown)

"It's been lived in," she said. "It's been used."

Moovel's 17,000-square-foot office features floors built from the building's original wood, and seismically upgraded brick and masonry. It's also got several modern features, including a gas fireplace, three showers, a wine rack and fridge, top-shelf liquors, a full kitchen and a ping pong table.

Emerick Architects handled the core and shell of the Overland's overhaul. Portland-based Hacker Architects designed the office, drawing on suggestions from Moovel North America chief executive Nat Parker. A central meeting area and conference area are designed in circular fashion, a touch Parker sought to encourage imagination.

"Creativity abounds when you don't have edges," he said.

Portland's tech renaissance began a decade ago in the Pearl District, spilling out into downtown as the industry outgrew the neighborhood. Now tech is expanding again into the periphery of downtown.

Online banker Simple moved into new offices in the rapidly changing central eastside last year, and Moovel's new office is four blocks away from Airbnb's customer service outpost in Old Town.

Hongcheng Zhao, who is working to preserve the historic character of Old Town Chinatown, said he doesn't necessarily object to tech companies moving into the neighborhood. They bring foot traffic and activity, he said.

The key, Zhao said, is to preserve historic buildings and ensure the Chinese community has the ability to develop the buildings it still owns. He said he personally likes the Overland's restoration.

"I think they've done a good job," he said.

Clarification: Historians say the term "Shanghai tunnels" is a misnomer, misstating the actual purpose of the tunnels. Barney Blalock's 2014 book "The Oregon Shanghaiers" is emphatic that people weren't smuggled through the tunnels and forced to work about ships. ("The only truth to these stories is this: yes, there were some people who were shanghaied in Portland, Oregon. However, the likelihood of any of them being shanghaied via tunnel is nil.")

In an email, Portland State professor emeritus Carl Abbott writes the tunnels had other purposes: "There were connected basements for ease of moving goods between buildings and as escape routes from police raids, as well as drainage tunnels, so my understanding is that several different architectural features get lumped together as the Shanghai Tunnels."

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