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Prosper Portland and Lan Su Chinese Garden are working together on plans for a full-block mixed-use development in Old Town Chinatown.

On Wednesday, Prosper Portland’s board approved moving forward with the $8 million purchase of Block 24. Lan Su is under contract with the current owner, NW Natural.

The 0.9-acre property became available after NW Natural decided to move from One Pacific Square to the new 250 Taylor building. Block 24 is currently a surface parking lot.

Lan Su board members said the organization plans to construct a new five-story building that would link to the garden. The building would include a cultural center, a caf茅, a theater, an event space, administrative offices and more. A sunken plaza able to accommodate outdoor events would join the two properties. A private developer will be sought for the project.

Overall, Lan Su is planning to build 50,000 square feet for its own purposes.

鈥淭hat is definitely ambitious and definitely bold, but we think all of those activities in combination would create a really lively and engaging ground-floor opportunity on Block 24,鈥� said Susan Hartnett, vice president of the Lan Su Chinese Garden board of directors.

The cultural center would play an important role, Hartnett said.

鈥淎s we deal with the impacts of COVID and a likely recession, looking to retail may not be the best thing, so the culture and heritage center is a great opportunity to create active uses on the ground floor for that whole block,鈥� she said.

A hotel, retail space, office space or housing 鈥� driven by market demand 鈥� would fill the rest of the building, officials said.

Prosper Portland will use a $4 million inter-fund loan from Portland Parks & Recreation to assist with the purchase. Tax increment financing will be used as well.

The property was appraised in February at $9.5 million. The purchase price below that value reflects the cost of environmental remediation, said Karl Dinkelspiel, development manager for Prosper Portland.

The project will be a joint effort of Lan Su, Prosper Portland and likely a third-party developer, Dinkelspiel said. The developer would be selected in 2021 or 2022 after a request for interest, he said.

The project aligns with Prosper Portland’s long-term goals to boost economic opportunity in Old Town Chinatown. An action plan for the neighborhood was approved in 2014 and renewed last year.

Block 24 is bounded by Northwest Flanders and Glisan streets, and Second and Third avenues. It’s directly east of Block 25, where Key Development is working on another major proposal. Combined, the two projects would add tens of millions of dollars in economic development to Old Town Chinatown.

鈥淭here’s a lot of potential hopefully about to be unlocked there,鈥� said Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for Prosper Portland.

The parcel is zoned central commercial. It has a base 6-to-1 floor-area ratio, with an additional 3-to-1 bonus available. The property has a 350-foot base height, although it’s unlikely the project would be anywhere near that tall, Dinkelspiel said.

Raymond Cheng, Lan Su’s board president, said the building would have a rooftop garden. He added that Lan Su has been working on a design with Li Chung 鈥淪andi鈥� Pei, a son of the late, legendary architect I.M. Pei, who died last year. Sandi Pei co-founded PEI Architects in New York City.

An early rendering from PEI Architects showed a 26-story hotel tower that would dwarf Lan Su Chinese Garden. That was an early concept put forward before Prosper Portland became involved in the project.

鈥淚t’s clear to everybody involved that it’s too early to say what exactly could be there,鈥� Uhlman said. 鈥淚t could be a hotel. It could be housing. All options are on the table.鈥�

The building’s use 鈥渄epends on what the market will bear,鈥� he added.

Cheng said he met with Mayor Ted Wheeler to discuss the project more than a year ago.

鈥淲e are looking forward to making this happen, and making this a transformational project,鈥� he said.