Two appeals of the Portland Design Commission‘s approval of a master plan for redevelopment of Lloyd Center were initially denied by the Portland City Council on Wednesday; the final vote is scheduled for later this month.

The appeals argued for preserving the Lloyd Center indoor ice rink and the entire mall. The two appellants include the Save Lloyd Ice Coalition and Jennifer Gilmore-Robinson for the ice rink and the Save Lloyd campaign/Matthew Henderson for the mall.

The Design Commission approved the master plan in March. The land use review included a voluntary Central City Master Plan for future redevelopment of the 27.1-acre site, which includes the mall.

The city council heard testimony during two hearings in June and received written testimony. Many of the comments expressed support for preserving the ice rink and mall.

“If the ice rink cannot be preserved in Urban Renaissance Group‘s master plan, it’s important that the city of Portland commit to a permanent, year-round replacement ice skating rink that is affordable and accessible to all residents,” the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association stated in its written testimony.

“I support thoughtful redevelopment of the Lloyd Center site, but redevelopment should not come at the expense of an irreplaceable community resource,” Portland resident Stacey Moy stated in written testimony. “If developers wish to move forward with their plans, they should be required to include a binding commitment to preserve, replace, or relocate the year-round ice rink within the development area before approvals are granted.”

If the appeals were granted, there would be no Central City Master Plan criteria required for the site. That would include open space, which currently amounts to about 6 acres, according to Urban Renaissance Group. The team would also still be able to proceed with demolition because it is a separate decision process, a city staff report states. The mall is scheduled to close on Aug. 8.

“I have listened closely to the hours of public testimony and felt the deep love this community holds for the Lloyd Center, especially the iconic ice rink that has anchored generations of family memories, first dates, and community gatherings,” Councilor Loretta Smith said. “Please know that my vote to approve the Central City Master Plan is not to dismantle that rich history, nor is it a validation of losing something that we all love. It is instead a difficult but necessary step toward securing a viable future to Northeast Portland.”

Smith also said that the council cannot vote to require an ice rink be included in redevelopment of the site.

The council voted no on the appeals, with a formal final vote slated for July 29.

The city council’s decision could be appealed to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. An appeal would need to be submitted to LUBA within 21 days after the city council’s decision, according to the city.

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Each year, the Portland Design Commission produces a report that details development in the city and highlights major projects.

This year’s State of the City report does that and a little more: It defends the design review process itself.

The report, prepared by commissioners led by Chairwoman Chandra Robinson, an architect, was adopted by the commission on March 19. It comes as the City Council has requested a separate report on design review with an eye toward reform — including a possible temporary suspension of design review requirements.

The report to the City Council, by staff of Portland Permitting and Development as well as Planning and Sustainability, is due on April 9.

Robinson emphasized the Design Commission’s flexibility, in presenting the State of the City on March 19. In recent years, the commission has adjusted to design overlay zone amendments in 2021, revamped historic resource codes in 2022, streamlined design review and neighborhood contact procedures in 2024, and implemented code changes to design and development standards in 2025.

“These are all intended to improve outcomes for development, right?” Robinson said. “We want to encourage it, and we want to make things simpler when we can.”

Robinson backed discretionary review, whereby commissioners are guided by design review standards but not limited to them.

“When we have discretionary review, we’re able to allow modifications that are not strictly allowed by the zoning code and by standards,” Robinson said. “So, it is helpful to come through the Design Commission if there are things in your project that do not fit standards.”

Commissioners pointed to their approvals of major projects including Hollywood HUB, a 222-unit affordable housing building under construction on Northeast Halsey Street; the Lloyd Center concert venue, and Portland State University’s 80,000-square-foot Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design.

Production of market-rate housing has plunged in recent years, and design review has come under fire for adding costly delays. Other cities have curtailed design review; in September 2025, the Seattle City Council suspended design review requirements.

But Portland design commissioners laid the blame for declining construction on market forces and not regulatory obstacles.

“Because of economic conditions and the cost of borrowing money, the cost of construction has been a real difficult obstacle over the last few years, and we’re seeing diminishing projects coming through and not very many cranes on the skyline,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said during the March 19 meeting.

“However, I think Design Commission always remembers that we are that body who is approving real projects that are going to be built out there, and they’re going to be basically the implementation of our vision of the city we want to be,” McCarter added.

In previous years, design commissioners have presented the report to the City Council in person during a public council meeting. No such presentation is scheduled this year amid the reform push.

“We don’t have dates scheduled for a presentation of the State of the Cities reports (for both the Design Commission and the Historic Landmarks Commission) to the City Council or one of its committees,” Permitting & Development spokesman Ken Ray stated in an email. “I do not know if a presentation will be scheduled or if the reports will be provided to the City Council by other means.”

Elliott Kozuch, spokesman for the city’s Community and Economic Development departments, noted that the State of the City report is not finalized.

“It is within council’s purview to determine whether they would like the information presented at an upcoming council or committee meeting,” Kozuch wrote in an email.

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A master plan proposal for redevelopment of the Lloyd Center mall received the Portland Design Commission‘s unanimous approval on Thursday.

The 27.1-acre site, in Northeast Portland, consists of the mall and a Regal Cinemas parking lot. The master plan divides the parcels into 14 areas with approximately 7 million gross square feet of allowed development, buildings as tall as 225 feet, and approximately 6.18 acres of public open spaces and new public rights-of-way.

ZGF Architects designed the master plan for owners Urban Renaissance Group and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust.

The vision of the master plan “transforms an aging mall that is no longer economically sustainable into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood with housing, retail, and open space where Portlanders can live, work, and play,” Tom Kilbane, managing director of Urban Renaissance Group’s Portland office, stated in an email.

“Lloyd Center will always hold a special place in the hearts of Portlanders,” he stated, “and now it’s poised to play a leading role in the city’s revitalization.”

Redevelopment will occur in phases. No specific plan for demolition exists yet, but it would likely be full demolition rather than a phased approach, because the mall shares centralized infrastructure for utilities. Because these utilities are fully integrated, it is not feasible to isolate or maintain services for one portion of the property while decommissioning another, according to a letter from the applicant’s attorney.

During the previous Design Commission hearing for the master plan, more than 50 people spoke, many in opposition. They lamented plans to demolish the mall and its indoor ice rink.

Commissioner Tina Bue addressed that public testimony, stating that the demolition aspects are outside of the commission’s purview. But she added that she believes the master plan has great potential in open spaces and neighborhood extensions.

“The community spoke loud and clearly about having a year-round ice rink and the importance of the mall being a third space,” she said. “I believe Portlanders will create something new.”

Commission Vice Chair Joe Swank added, “The Lloyd Center has really been de facto public space — public realm — for 65 years in the city. It really has, I think, a following and an ability to captivate people in that way.”

The small business space and the ice rink now in the Lloyd Center mall are community assets, Swank added. He encouraged stakeholders who are passionate about those spaces to follow the process of the Lloyd-Holladay TIF District with the city and track where funds are being spent.

Public art and facade expressions were not part of the master plan and should be considered as aspects of the development of the 14 individual parcels, Commission Chair Chandra Robinson said.

The master plan was approved by the commission unanimously, with conditions of approval attached. Conditions include proposed open spaces being subject to public access easements and allowing public access, designs of each proposed open space and accessway being evaluated through a type II design review process, and buildings in areas shown to have 50 percent ground floor use meeting city code. Several other conditions related to transportation, environmental service and water service were also added.

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The vision for redevelopment of Lloyd Center drew testimony from more than 50 people during a Portland Design Commission hearing on Thursday, and many expressed their opposition.

Most testifiers spoke about the value of the communities created at the mall in recent years. They asked for preservation of both the existing building as an indoor space out of the rain and the year-round indoor ice rink.

However, the project team is proposing to replace the building with interconnected mixed-use buildings and open space, including a seasonal outdoor rink.

“In light of all the testimony, most of it had to do with what happens inside of these buildings,” Commissioner Zari Santner said.

Thursday’s hearing was the Design Commission’s third look at redevelopment plans for the 27.1-acre site that consists of the mall and the Regal Cinemas lot south of Northeast Multnomah Street. Next month, the group is expected to vote on the proposal.

Both the Nordstrom building and the sky-bridge were demolished to accommodate construction of a new music venue. The mall will close later this year.

ZGF Architects designed the master plan for owners Urban Renaissance Group and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust. The project team also includes civil engineer DOWL, structural engineer KPFF, and landscape architect Field Operations of New York.

When Lloyd Center opened in 1960, it was exposed to the elements. Glass ceilings were added in the late 1980s, according to the project team’s report. The goal of redevelopment is to reverse the inward focus and build a neighborhood around open space, said Nolan Lienhart, a ZGF principal and its director of planning and urban design.

The vision for the area calls for integrating new residential, retail, entertainment, and employment space with a dynamic and connected public realm. Community gathering spaces would be accessible to all.

Approximately 20 percent of the master plan area must be dedicated open space for the public, senior city planner Ben Nielsen said. The master plan envisions high-density residential and commercial buildings framing a network of diverse but complementary connected open spaces, the applicant’s report states. It includes more than 6 acres of parks, open space, and plazas, said Tom Kilbane, managing director of Urban Renaissance Group. There would also be two pedestrian-oriented promenades. Any proposed open spaces will need to go through a design review process as part of a condition of approval for the master plan, Nielsen said.

The Design Commission’s vice chair, Joe Swank, asked where the team proposes to locate the seasonal ice rink.

“The market square seems like an obvious area, but it could be other places as well,” said Allison Rouse, a ZGF landscape architect.

The master plan area is expected to gain up to 7 million square feet of mixed-use buildings, including both affordable and market-rate housing. Utilities to support these uses would be located underground.

The project team is requesting two adjustments are requested with the master plan review. One is to remove the general required building line standards from three areas. Another is to remove required building line standards for sites with frontage on a street, except for three other areas. City staff recommend approving the two requests.

Santner asked the project team, when it returns before the commission, to give a general sense of what residential, commercial, retail and community spaces they will try to accommodate in the development.

The project team will return before the Design Commission on March 5.

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Construction to create a two-level, 66,156-square-foot music venue is progressing at Lloyd Center, in Northeast Portland.

Demolition of the former Nordstrom building was completed in September. Crews are now working on the foundation at the site, at 901 N.E. Multnomah St. The new building, slated to open in early 2027, will be able to accommodate up to 4,250 guests.

A master plan was created for redevelopment of the area. The next project to be completed is the music venue, according to the project’s website.

The total project cost is estimated to be between $80 million and $90 million. An $18.8 million facility permit is under review for the project. Plans call for renovating the below-grade area and then constructing a two-story multipurpose event structure.

The ex-Nordstrom building’s full basement will be updated to hold storage space, catering space, production offices and dressing rooms.

Portland-based independent concert promoter Monqui Presents and global concert promoter AEG Presents are the project owners. WORKS Architecture is the architect, interior designer and landscape architect. Lease Crutcher Lewis is the general contractor. The project team also includes civil engineer 7 Oaks Engineering of Silverton and structural engineer DCI Engineers.

The building will have a movable stage, stadium seating and a mezzanine with a porch to accommodate smoking, Monqui Presents co-owner Mike Quinn said. A large plaza in front of the former Nordstrom building will remain. Parking structures to the north will also remain, he said.

In addition to being served by ample parking nearby, the venue will offer access to light rail and streetcar lines, and the Blumenauer Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge, according to WORKS Architecture’s website.

With CX (central commercial) zoning, Quinn said development does not require special use permits or zoning changes.

“It’s not just anywhere that you can put a building like this that has potential impact on neighbors and the whole area, dumping 4,000 people out on the street,” Quinn said, adding that good sidewalks and lighting are in the vicinity.

The venue will have first-class lighting and sound, Quinn said. It’s expected to host 125 shows in the first year, and be operated by 15 full-time employees and 80-100 hourly staffers per show.

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Urban Renaissance Group has partnered with KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. to lead the revitalization of the Lloyd Center in Portland.

Lloyd Center is home to about 100 shops and businesses and remains open under its new ownership. URG plans to begin a visioning process for future investment that will recognize the property’s importance to Portland by listening to and engaging with existing tenants, neighbors, the broader community and city officials.

Founded in 2006, URG has worked on projects in Portland, including the development of the 140,000-square-foot Canvas office building next to Providence Park and a $28 million renovation the former Oregonian newspaper headquarters at 1320 SW Broadway, Portland. Other notable URG projects in Portland include renovation of the Yeon Building at SW 5th and Alder and the redevelopment of the JK Gill Building (formerly known as the McCoy building) at SW 5th and Harvey Milk Boulevard.

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China’s real estate bubble may have just popped at Lloyd Center in Portland.

When a lender to Lloyd Center, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc., announced during an investor call Oct. 26 that it would move to foreclose on the mall property, little was known about the mall’s owner, EB Arrow.

Based in Dallas, EB Arrow is a relative newcomer to U.S. commercial real estate. It was formed in 2018 when a Dallas company, Arrow Retail, accepted a major investment from EBA Investments Ltd., a subsidiary of China Everbright Ltd. China Everbright Ltd. is in turn part of China Everbright Group, a state-owned firm whose stock is publicly traded on the Hong Kong exchange.

Everbright has repeatedly been honored as China’s top real estate fund. EB Arrow did not respond to messages seeking comment.

EB Arrow’s default comes as highly leveraged Chinese real estate firms, including China Evergrande Group and Fantasia Holdings Group Co. Ltd., have reportedly missed payments amid widespread concern among economists that a state-backed real estate bubble may be bursting. In August, China demolished 15 unfinished residential towers in Kunming because the project team ran out of money.

Lloyd Center’s debt troubles stem from a 6-year-old loan. In October 2015, Lloyd Center’s owner accepted a $110 million loan that may have sealed the fate of the forlorn, 1.1 million-square-foot shopping mall.

The refinance loan was placed in “nonaccrual status” in October 2020 after EB Arrow was unable to make payments, according to KKR. Then, during last month’s conference call, KKR announced it would foreclose on the property.

“We intend to foreclose and to take ownership of the asset, enabling us to optimize value over the near and medium term,” said Patrick Mattson, president and chief operating officer of the New York-based lender, according to a transcript.

Mattson revealed KKR would seek to redevelop the property.

“Upon taking title, which is targeted for the fourth quarter, we will begin to prepare for a comprehensive redevelopment of the site, which we expect will include multiple uses, including residential and creative offices,” Mattson said.

The mall’s ownership records are cloaked in Delaware shell companies, and some news outlets have reported that the mall is owned by Cypress Equities, a Dallas real estate firm. That is no longer the case.

A leasing manager with Cypress Equities said Cypress is the manager of the mall, and not the owner.

“We don’t have anything to do with what’s going on with the bank,” said Darrell Gage, Cypress’ senior director of property management. “It’s EB Arrow.”

Gage declined further comment.

Lloyd Center is listed on EB Arrow’s website under the header “Our Properties” alongside six other shopping centers.

Redevelopment plans

Mattson promised a “more fulsome update” on Lloyd Center during KKR’s next earnings call. The company’s next quarterly update is likely to come in late January 2022.

“We plan to take ownership of the property before the end of this year, which will enable us to begin working with local partners to prepare for a long-term redevelopment of the site,” a KKR spokesperson stated in an email.

KKR appears likely to link forces with a local developer. KKR is known as an aggressive lender and investor, with a history of hostile takeovers, including one of RJR Nabisco, and a leveraged buyout of Toys R Us. It is not known primarily as a developer.

As a redevelopment play, the Lloyd Center property has much going for it, real estate professionals said. It’s close to jobs and amenities in central Portland, it has easy access to Interstate 84, and it’s near plentiful light-rail and bus service.

At 32.78 acres, the property would likely have a mix of uses if redeveloped.

“Due to the size, I think it’s going to have to be a creative mix of a lot of different product types, and I assume that’s their thinking as well,” said Vanessa Sturgeon, president and chief executive of TMT Development.

Lloyd Center was Portland’s first mall when it opened in 1960. But it has languished for years. Anchor stores such as Macy’s and Nordstrom left, causing smaller retailers to shutter as well. Weakness in retail, already beset by online shopping, was dramatically worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The gap between underperforming malls like Lloyd Center and better-positioned malls such as Washington Square widened.

The news that Lloyd Center would be foreclosed upon emerged Monday, thanks to local architect and blogger Iain Mackenzie spotting the disclosure in a KKR investor call.

Some local developers welcomed KKR’s move to redevelop the property.

“I think everybody would agree at this point that redevelopment is a good thing,” said Wade Lange, vice president and regional manager in Portland for American Assets Trust, a property owner and developer in the Lloyd District

Neighboring property owners and boosters have watched for years as Lloyd Center emptied. Information was scarce, and rumors multiplied. When KKR’s announcement came, “it kind of felt like the other shoe had finally dropped,” Lange said.

Any investment in Lloyd Center is welcome, Sturgeon said.

“It’s exciting to see an institutional investor back in the Portland market after so many years of not being an attractive place for institutional investment due to rioting and the condition of the city,” she said.

Ownership had tried for years to reposition the mall. Plans to transition more Lloyd Center space away from retail never came to fruition. Cypress Equities in 2018 inked a deal with concert promoter Live Nation to operate a venue at Lloyd Center. The plan moved through Portland’s design review process, but redevelopment never occurred.

A parking play?

Lloyd Center has approximately 1,252,000 square feet of retail space and 107,000 square feet of offices, according to EB Arrow’s website.

It also has parking – lots of it – and some developers think that’s the play.

“The mall buildings probably aren’t worth very much, but the parking garages surrounding the mall are probably worth a ton,” said Noel Johnson, a Portland developer. “It’s a parking play.”

Structured parking garages are very expensive to build, and new parking is subject to greater zoning scrutiny than in decades past. It’s possible KKR or a subsequent developer could design a development that incorporates some or all of the existing garages.

“Form follows parking,” Johnson said.

In a 2019 leasing flyer, EB Arrow boasted the property had 5,500 parking spaces. However, previous estimates by Go Lloyd, a nonprofit community association that conducts parking studies in the neighborhood, had counted 3,200 structured stalls and 400 surface parking spaces.

At the 91��Ƶ’s request, Go Lloyd recounted Wednesday. Lloyd Center has sold certain holdings and also lost parking in renovations, leaving approximately 3,995 stalls, said Owen Ronchelli, executive director of Go Lloyd.

Zoning at the site allows for a maximum height of 225 feet. The floor area ratio ranges from 6:1 at the mall itself to 9:1 in the south parking lot and cinema areas, according to the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Government-backed development is not likely.

“From a public investment standpoint, there just aren’t funds available,” Prosper Portland spokesman Shawn Uhlman said.

Development at the site could be reviewed as a Central City Master Plan, city planner Troy Doss stated.

“It’s bittersweet, honestly,” Ronchelli said. “Lloyd Center was an institution for sure, and they were a good community partner too,” he said, mentioning local management financed programming in Holladay Park.

“It’s been kind of sad to watch its decline.”

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There was a moment, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, when some owners of empty or underperforming spaces in Portland struck upon a common solution.

Live events, particularly concerts, would cure what ailed commercial landlords. Where retail was weak, events would prove strong. Where once had been a Nordstrom – a pillar of the increasingly musty anchor-store concept – there would soon be a Live Nation concert venue.

That was the driving idea at the Lloyd Center mall. And in the South Waterfront, plans for a mixed-use district at Zidell Yards had given way to a semi-temporary events venue with capacity for 10,000 attendees.

The venues would prove a keystone to thriving, walkable entertainment districts. 91��Ƶ would draw foot traffic. While there, attendees surely would spend money at adjacent retail shops, restaurants and bars.

At the time, concert venues were hot – a JLL report in May 2019 noted a burst of facility renovations, including a $56 million auditorium upgrade in Philadelphia and a $35 million amphitheater update in Atlanta.

Remember when we used to go to concerts?

That concept collapsed sometime around March 11, when the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, an NBA player tested positive for COVID-19, stock indexes fell precipitously and actor Tom Hanks announced on Instagram that he had contracted the virus.

Suddenly crowds, particularly indoors, seemed like a terrible idea.

That left two notable Portland developments in the lurch.

The Zidell project has not moved forward since a Design Commission hearing in October. The project appears to be on pause. Tom Henneberry, chief operating officer for ZRZ Realty, declined to comment, and referred questions to Live Nation, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Hacker was designing the venue.

“We are currently not engaged in work on this project,” Audrey Alverson, the architecture firm’s marketing director, stated in an email.

At the Lloyd Center, Cypress Equities had inked Live Nation to a long-term lease in 2018 to build a concert venue. At the time, the mall’s manager said the venue could open in 2020.

Cypress Equities’ plans for the venue centered on a 4,000-seat theater and multiple secondary venues in the former Nordstrom space on the mall’s west end.

Cypress Equities, based in Dallas, did not respond to a request for comment. Live Nation Entertainment also did not respond to a request for comment. Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, California, is a publicly traded company that earned $11.5 billion in revenue in 2019.

At the South Waterfront, the Live Nation amphitheater would connect from the western base of Tilikum Crossing. Plans submitted to the Bureau of Development Services described a 10,000-seat amphitheater featuring a performance stage, raised seating, a large plaza, trailers and other supporting structures, and a perimeter fence. The venue was “intended to occupy the site for seven years with the possibility of an extension.”

Design commissioners told the project team that the concert venue could improve its response to the surrounding area, particularly when the venue is not being used.

“The proposal needs to do more to relate to the neighborhood on a year-round basis,” Staci Monroe, a BDS reviewer, wrote in an October 2019 summary memo.

The project is “off to a good start … but has a long way to go,” she stated.

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Lloyd Center‘s owners spent a lot of time and money in the past two years trying to make sure the mall’s east end is in fashion. This season, they’re back with a new look.

The first program didn’t quite fit, but the Portland Design Commission assured them the new approach promises to be much more attractive. And with a little further persuasion, Cypress Equities may have its return approved.

The Dallas-based developer revisited the Design Commission on Thursday seeking significant changes to a design approved by the commission in April 2018. Those plans called for a remake of the mall’s east end with a Regal movie theater and office space.

“It was a hard decision to make,” Kirk Williams, Cypress Equities’ managing director, told the commission. “We had it designed. We could have gone forward. But we did not want to go forward with a design that would not be successful.”

Changes were made in response to tepid retail demand and some issues with the office design, he said.

“The retail market – let’s say the commercial markets – are very fluid,” Williams said. “Change is happening very quick. Sometimes information is coming faster than we can design. From lease-ability, particularity on the office level, we had challenges – significant challenges.”

The new design from LDA Design Group of Burbank, California, and 505 Design‘s Boulder, Colorado, office, calls for stacking the movie theater in a taller structure. Ground-floor office space has been removed in favor of bringing the theater lobby to the ground floor. The former Sears building will become an office building, with a design that lets in natural light.

The theater lobby will now front the corner of Northeast 15th Avenue and Multnomah Street.

“You guys always wanted the theater lobby at the corner of 15th and Multnomah, and guess what – we’re giving it to you,” said Nick Igel, partner at 505 Design.

Prospective office tenants had said the office space in the Sears building was too dark, Williams said. Changes will include an atrium to bring in natural light.

“We’ve taken two buildings that were very inward looking to as outward looking as we can,” Igel said. “There’s a huge transition to what’s there now and what we’re proposing.”

The theater building will grow from the previously approved design’s height of 78 feet, 9 inches, to 106 feet, 4 inches, with a smaller footprint. More glazed glass will be added to the frontages.

Commissioners said some aspects of the new design, like a pedestrian breezeway fronting the office building, are better in line with guidelines.

“This is a huge improvement,” Commissioner Jessica Molinar said. “The move from office to theater adds so many more people, so much more activity – a much better response to guidelines.”

Molinar was less enthused by a stair tower that takes up a street corner – something discouraged by city design guidelines – and she expressed concern about an oriel window that hangs over the sidewalk.

Thursday’s meeting marked at least the 10th Design Commission hearing for Lloyd Center since 2017. In addition to the east end changes, a major renovation is coming to the mall’s west end for a Live Nation concert venue to become an anchor.

Taken together, the changes represent a major shift away from traditional anchor retail stores to entertainment spaces. Brands such as Sears, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney and others have hemorrhaged retail locations.

“We’re keenly listening to the market, and it is telling us what to do,” Williams said in a brief interview after the meeting concluded. “The market always wins.”

The project team will proceed to a Type III design review hearing, said Don Linane, a partner at LDA Design Group.

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Lloyd Center has signed a long-term lease with concert group Live Nation Entertainment to operate a new music venue inside the mall.

Live Nation plans to build a 4,000-seat primary venue and “multiple secondary venues” in the former Nordstrom space, Lloyd Center General Manager Bob Dye said. A box office will be on the ground floor, and the music venues will take up the entire third floor.

The deal further shifts the Lloyd Center away from a pure retail outlet to a model that includes entertainment and nightlife attractions.

“This continues our redevelopment creating a family-friendly entertainment and retail venue,” Dye said. “We’re not getting away from retail; we’re adding the entertainment and lifestyle component.”

Meanwhile, work is under way to renovate Regal Cinemas‘ movie theater in the mall as part of the second phase of its redevelopment. The first phase included renovation of the ice rink, remodel of a three-story spiral staircase and completion of a new food court.

The concert venue could open in 2020, Dye said.

“The Lloyd has been recognized as Portland’s fastest-growing neighborhood, and we’re excited to offer new entertainment options for the neighborhood and the community,” he said.

Live Nation Entertainment, based in Beverly Hills, California, is one of the nation’s largest concert promoters. The publicly traded company earned $10.3 billion in revenue last year. Attendance at Live Nation concerts grew 21 percent to 86 million.

“Portland is a great music market with a strong fan base,” Liam Thornton, Live Nation’s executive vice president of development of clubs and theaters, said in a prepared statement. “This midsize venue will fill the gap between the smaller club venues and larger arenas already present in Portland, bringing fans even more entertainment offerings.”

The new concert venue will be larger than the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, which seats up to 2,776 concertgoers.

Lloyd Center is owned by Cypress Equities of Dallas.

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