91ÊÓƵ

, the Portland boutique for men’s undies, is moving its store on Southwest Broadway to a new location at , at Park Avenue.

The new store, which will be almost 5,000 square feet, marks an expansion for the company, whose store on Broadway is only 800 square feet. Owner Steven Lien says the new store will be the largest men’s underwear store in North America.

The new store should open in February of 2012, in time for Valentine’s Day. The Under U 4 Men store on Broadway will stay open for a while, but it will eventually close.

“We want to expand, especially our year-round swimming department and our athletic and workout products,” Lien said, “and we just didn’t have the space to expand. We had maxed our ability to generate more sales per square foot at that location.”

Lien plans convert the store into a “state-of -the-art experience,” for which he will add more services, including a barbershop called “U Cut,” as well as services for shaving products, body care and cosmetics.

When asked about the lease rate, Lien said the retail lease rates in downtown Portland “have become very aggressive and it was an opportunity that could not be passed up. There are very, very few corner locations of this size in the downtown core.”

The company has been an office tenant above the new space for a couple of years, but broker Laura Pallin with Sperry Van Ness Bluestone and Hockley convinced  Lien to move into the 4,970-square-foot retail space on the ground floor.

“We’re all very excited, and we think Under U 4 Men’s presence on the street will do a lot for Park Avenue,” Pallin said. “We’re hoping it brings more retailers and encourages owners on the block to improve their buildings, as well.”

The new store will be in the Park Washington Building, built in 1914 and owned by the Cheng family. The building adjacent to it, to the south, is . The retail space in the Stevens Building to the west was recently leased by Finnegan’s Toys & Gifts, which moved there in August from its space on Southwest Yamhill Street. Brokers in the area see high foot traffic from the nearby food cart pod as a benefit for retailers.