What's going to replace Lloyd Center
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The redevelopment at Lloyd Center aims to connect the street grid and provide more pedestrian-friendly spaces. Rendering: Courtesy of URG and ZGF Architects
Portland's oldest mall will be no more come the end of the year, as developers plan to demolish the 29.3-acre site and build a sprawling, mixed-use property with shopping, recreation and housing.
Why it matters: Not everyone is happy about the change. For more than 60 years, Lloyd Center served as a premier destination for retail and cultural life until the COVID-19 pandemic — coupled with a rise in e-commerce — hobbled anchor tenants and left it a shadow of its former self.
- Yes, but: In the years since, small businesses revived the zombie mall into a creative hub (thanks to cheap rents and ample vacant space), while residents resurrected it as a cool hangout spot with weekly chess clubs, an '80s-themed walking group and zine-making workshops.
The latest: Earlier this month, the mall's owners confirmed Lloyd Center has celebrated its last holiday season and that all existing buildings — including the beloved indoor ice rink and adjacent movie theater — will be torn down.
- The timelines for demolition and redevelopment remain uncertain.
Catch up quick: KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and Seattle-based developer Urban Renaissance Group took over ownership of the mall in 2021 after the previous owners foreclosed on a multimillion-dollar loan.
- The firms stayed mum on their plans for Lloyd Center until September 2023, when they released an initial proposal.
- It included plans to reconnect the street grid, create a pedestrian-focused promenade, build up to 5,000 mid- and high-rise apartment units and a potential corporate campus, as well as the possibility of a baseball stadium.
State of play: A newly submitted 105-page master plan mirrors the earlier proposal — minus the possible stadium and keeping the ice rink — and details how roughly 23% of the site, set aside as green space, would be programmed.
- There'll be courtyards, plazas and a 2.3-acre urban park with a dog run, nature walk and public art scattered throughout, along with a flexible seasonal market square for hosting live performances, farmers markets and a winter ice rink à la New York's Bryant Park — all within walking distance of public transit.
Plus: The plan could deliver up to 1 million square feet of office space, 457,000 square feet of retail storefronts and 5,300 parking spots.
- Construction on a new 68,000-square-foot entertainment venue at the former Nordstrom site began last summer.
What they're saying: "We feel a sense of responsibility in bringing this phase of Lloyd Center's existence to a close in a respectful way, and hopefully creating some excitement about what's to come," Thomas Kilbane, URG's managing director, told design commission officials during a public meeting earlier this month.
What we're watching: The Design Commission will hold another hearing next week before it votes on whether the project can move forward.