Originally called the Kiernan Building, the one-story structure earned its nickname from Gail's Dirty Duck Tavern, a gay bar that served as a tenant for 25 years.

[1][2][5] Bud Clark, who Portland Monthly described as a "strong straight ally of the gay community", held campaign events at the bar, and celebrated his victory there after being elected mayor in 1984.

[4][5] In 2002, PDC earmarked $2 million for the Blanchet House of Hospitality, a homeless shelter neighboring the Dirty Duck, to construct a new facility at a different location.

[4] However, these plans changed, and before the "land swap" deal was finalized in 2008, parties agreed that Blanchet House would receive $2 million, acquire the Dirty Duck property, and build a new facility on the same block.

[9] In 2007, Willamette Week's Byron Beck described Dirty Duck as the "quirkiest queer tavern in town" and a "homebase hole-in-the-wall for a group of gay men with beer guts and bushy brows".