SEPTEMBER 2007: AROUND THE STATE
Profile: Vanessa Sturgeon
President, TMT Development, Portland
PORTLAND From her
office on the 20th floor of the Fox Tower, Vanessa
Sturgeon’s view is commanding. The perch is fitting for
her position as president of TMT Development, the company that
built Fox Tower and dozens of other buildings around Portland.
Sturgeon grew up in town, as did her grandfather, legendary
Portland developer Tim Moyer, who recommended she join his
business when she was fresh out of college. “I was
surprised someone of his generation would be so
progressive,” says Sturgeon, who refers to her
grandfather as Mr. Moyer. “But he is. He always has
been.”
So the 29-year-old Sturgeon often finds herself the only woman
at a table filled with 50-year-old men — the commercial
real estate business is fueled largely by testosterone. But
she’s over it. She doesn’t care if someone calls
her dear. “You don’t have to have a chip on your
shoulder,” she’s decided. Besides, Sturgeon has
bigger things to worry about. In December, TMT hands over the
underground parking garage it is building across from Fox to
landscape architect Laurie Olin, who will implement his design
for the much-anticipated park slated for that space. In March,
TMT will break ground on Park Avenue West, a 412-foot-tall
retail, office and condo tower kitty-corner from Fox in
downtown Portland. And before any of that happens, Sturgeon has
one more thing on her to-do list: give birth to her first son
in October.
CHRISTINA WILLIAMS
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