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Design advice is being sought for a conceptual master plan to transform the property that now holds Lloyd Center. The master plan, revealed Thursday, visualizes positioning the 29.3-acre site in Northeast Portland as a connected neighborhood with housing, retail space, restaurants, entertainment venues, workspace, and open community spaces.

The conceptual master plan is the result of two years of market research, design study and consideration of community input. An application for a Design Advice Request meeting with the Portland Design Commission has been submitted, and a formal Central City Master Plan land use application will follow.

The project team includes owners Urban Renaissance Group of Seattle and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (KREF) of New York; master planner ZGF; landscape architect and urban designer Field Operations of New York; civil engineer DOWL and structural engineer KPFF.

Urban Renaissance Group and KREF have owned Lloyd Center since December 2021.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a really fantastic piece of real estate, in terms of its location,鈥� said Tom Kilbane, managing director of Urban Renaissance Group鈥檚 Portland office. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also big 鈥� it鈥檚 a 30-acre site and that鈥檚 pretty rare to work with a parcel that big in such a great location.鈥�

The master plan envisions transformation of the mall and surrounding parking lots into a mixed-use neighborhood much different than the current inward-facing, auto-centric complex. The reimagined layout will open the space to the surrounding communities with improved networks for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.

The early design envisions thousands of new residences and commercial spaces including restaurants and entertainment venues. There would be a large commercial office campus environment as well as outdoor open/amenity space, parking for residents and visitors, and the continued presence of an ice-skating rink. The existing rink may be relocated, Kilbane said.

Kilbane expects the redevelopment to lead with housing. The team envisions providing both market-rate and affordable housing units in both mid-rise and high-rise buildings.

The project team will use the city鈥檚 Central City Master Plan process, which requires dedicating 20 percent of the site for open space. That will be almost five city blocks for the site, Kilbane said.

One of the design elements being looked at is a 12th Avenue promenade, or corridor, running from Halsey Street at 12th Avenue to Holladay Park via a pedestrian pathway. A commons area would provide more open space on the site as well.

Over the past two years, the project team has engaged with community members to develop a vision for the property鈥檚 future. Outreach efforts include commissioning a city-wide public opinion poll of 600 residents and conducting more than 80 opinion leader interviews. Through this engagement, the team learned that people 鈥渨ant to see something鈥� at the site, Kilbane said. They expressed nostalgia for the ice rink but not much for the mall itself, he added. The team now believes it鈥檚 on the right path with its plan, he said.

Lloyd Center鈥檚 owners have spoken with city leaders about the desire to locate a baseball stadium on the site. The initiation of the DAR process does not preclude the option of a baseball stadium if a concrete proposal emerges to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland.

鈥淲e would be thrilled to see a major league team come to Portland,鈥� Kilbane stated in a press release. 鈥淲e have certainly heard the rumors, including around Lloyd Center as one of the potential sites for a stadium, and our ownership group is open to dialogue with team owners, the MLB or anyone else who presents an actionable proposal. The door remains open for a substantive conversation about baseball, but we feel it鈥檚 our duty to the Portland community to continue advancing the master planning process, which offers a multiyear path for achieving the revitalization of Lloyd Center.鈥�

Currently, there is no estimated cost for the redevelopment project, Kilbane said, because it鈥檚 hard to anticipate at this point of a long process.

Lloyd Center will remain open for business throughout the planning and redevelopment process. Parts of the mall will remain for some time because construction will take place in phases over the next decade or so. The mall currently has around 120 tenants. Leases are continuing with one-year agreements.

Lloyd Center has offered a lot of pop-up events, such as Soap Box Derby, and there is a nice sense of community that has been created in the mall over the past couple of years, Kilbane said. An immersive art experience called Painted Pines, by local artist Mike Bennett, will be a new addition to the mall early next year.

鈥淲e know that it鈥檚 going to take the better part of the year to get through the design review process,鈥� Kilbane said.

Once the team鈥檚 master plan receives approval, individual projects on the site will have to go through design review. The expectation is that the design review will be easier for those projects because the infrastructure, streetscape and access will have already been resolved through the master plan, Kilbane said. Construction likely won鈥檛 begin for a couple years, he added.