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The Portland Design Commission crept to the verge of voting for a proposed Lloyd Center concert venue on Thursday, but commissioners ultimately agreed to keep the record open and delay the vote until October.

Approval at a meeting scheduled for Oct. 17 appears to be all but certain.

鈥淲e will look forward to making it quick on the 17th,鈥� commission Chairman Brian McCarter said.

The venue proposed by concert promoters AEG Presents and Monqui Presents would seat 2,000 to 4,250 concertgoers in a two-story, 67,000-square-foot contemporary building designed by Portland鈥檚 Works Progress Architecture.

The project would compete with another proposed concert venue, in the Central Eastside, backed by Live Nation. The Live Nation project, led by Beam Development and Colas Development Group, was the subject of a land-use appeal to the City Council that also was heard Thursday. That appeal was tentatively denied by the City Council.

The Live Nation project faces community opposition from local music fans who say it would allow the entertainment-industry giant to dominate the local concert industry. Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, is also facing a federal antitrust lawsuit that seeks to break up the company.

As for the Lloyd Center venue, design commissioners praised its materials, massing and landscape architecture.

鈥淚t is a very unique building and would be an iconic building,鈥� Commissioner Zari Santner said.

The venue鈥檚 lobby would open onto a public plaza at Northeast Ninth Avenue and Multnomah Street.

The Lloyd Center鈥檚 former Nordstrom building would be demolished to make way for the concert venue. So would a sky-bridge that spans the avenue.

Works Progress Architecture鈥檚 design uses many lessons drawn from the firm鈥檚 design of the Mission Ballroom in Denver. Carrie Strickland, founding principal of Works Progress Architecture, pointed to an unusual and dramatic internal layout and high-concept art pieces as indoor design motifs.

Outdoors, the design will incorporate the existing tree canopy along Northeast Ninth Avenue and around the plaza, Strickland said.

鈥淲e have this established tree canopy and can build a relationship around that,鈥� she said.

The venue鈥檚 dark colors will contrast with the lighter palette of the Lloyd Center, commissioners said.

The proposed AEG-Monqui concert venue has its own legal dispute: Two lawyers in public testimony traded opposing interpretations of an easement agreement affecting the Lloyd Center and the neighboring former Sears parcel, which is owned by Keystone Lloyd Center, a limited liability company connected to Keystone National Group, a Salt Lake City-based investment firm.

Lloyd Center owner Urban Renaissance Group needs Keystone鈥檚 permission to launch any large-scale redevelopment, said David Boyer, a K&L Gates attorney representing Keystone.

鈥淐urrent ownership has requested approval from Keystone,鈥� Boyer said. 鈥淜eystone has disapproved. I鈥檓 here just apprising everyone of that.鈥�

A URG attorney countered that Keystone has no right to stop the redevelopment.

鈥淲e are the owner of the title to real property on the property records, and therefore we have the permission to move forward under Title 33 (of Portland鈥檚 city code),鈥� said Christen White, a partner at Radler White Parks & Alexander. 鈥淭he owner of the Keystone or Sears parcel has no right then to veto or require a withdrawal of this application under Title 33.鈥�

Design commissioners did not address the legal dispute. Instead, they stuck to critiquing and praising the design.

The venue will be a key asset for the city, Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said.

鈥淭he city is not going to have as many employees coming into it, so we have to become a destination place,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to become an entertainment city, and this is a small step in that direction. So, the success of this is, in my mind, paramount to the success of the city we鈥檙e becoming in the future.鈥�