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 pandemic — coupled with a rise in e-commerce — hobbled anchor tenants and left it a shadow of its former self.

• Yes, but: Small businesses since revived it into a creative hub (thanks to cheap rents), 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 timeline remains uncertain.

Catch up quick: KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and Seattle-based developer Urban Renaissance Group took over ownership in 2021 after the previous owners foreclosed on a multimillion-dollar loan.

• The firms released an initial proposal in September 2023.
• 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, along with a 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.

What we're watching: The Design Commission will hold another hearing next week before it votes on whether the project can move forward.

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The Lloyd Center has gone through several evolutions through the years, starting as more of an outdoor promenade than the enclosed modern mall we know today.

• Here's a peek back at what she looked like through the years.

🏙️ The owner of Big Pink, Nevada auto magnate Jeff Swickard, purchased the Five Oak building for $10.5 million, a fraction of its previous sales price more than a decade ago. (The Oregonian)

🌱 A new audit found the City of Portland needs to improve internal agency coordination, increase community transparency and develop more effective strategies if it wants to meet its ambitious climate goals. (OPB)

🤝 Mayor Keith Wilson is assembling a new group of well-connected business leaders, real estate developers and other community partners to help execute more of Gov. Tina Kotek's task force goals aimed at revitalizing Portland. (Portland Mercury)

A mall like Lloyd Center that endures for decades becomes more than retail space — it becomes part of people's personal history.

• We asked readers to email us their favorite Lloyd Center memories.

What you're saying: Susan Kelly had fond memories of Ella Fitzgerald serenading the crowd at the mall's grand opening in the 1960s.

• "She was terrific, singing with lots of scat, 'It never rains at Lloyd Center' under a tent while the whole crowd got rained on!'"

Myrna Jensen, who said she was old enough to remember the mall when it was still primarily outdoors, recalled spending Easter there.

• "They set up a spring farm scene and had live rabbits you could pet," Jensen told Axios in an email. "At Rose Festival, they would put up giant photos of the princesses and the queen. As a little girl, I'd sit and dream that I would be up there some day."

Kathy Lovrien remembered walking through Macy's to take her 7-year-old daughter to ice skating lessons.

• "On the way back we would stop off at the perfume counter, try all the samples and collect sample cards to take home. We would get back home absolutely reeking with scent," Lovrien said.
• "Her Dad would have to open a window after we arrived!"

Many of your memories involved the mall's signature ice rink.

• Elizabeth Steiner took her oldest child to skate for a third birthday celebration.
• "I hadn't skated in a long time and was 36 weeks pregnant at the time so we made quite the pair on the ice."

The bottom line: For many Portlanders, Lloyd Center's legacy will linger — like the sweet aroma emanating from Morrow's Nut House — long after it's gone.

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