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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A vacant building near the Oregon Convention Center will be renovated into a 14,000-square-foot food hall, bar and event space. Also, a patio on the site’s eastern end will be able to accommodate 10 food carts.

The property, owned by Prosper Portland, is located at 910 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in the Lloyd-Holladay Tax Increment Finance District.

Prosper Portland’s Board of Commissioners on Wednesday passed three resolutions related to the project. These include a minor amendment to the Lloyd-Holladay Urban Renewal Plan to include the site as a priority project area, a revision to the property plan, and an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Metro to seek a $3 million loan for the improvements.

Prosper Portland purchased the property in 2005 with plans to develop a hotel to serve the convention center. Metro later identified a different location for the hotel – the eventual Hyatt Regency at the Oregon Convention Center – which required a reexamination of opportunities for the property at 910 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd., a Prosper Portland staff report states.

“We heard significant input and interest from the community about repositioning the asset, particularly as a potential to take advantage of the opportunity to bring more local food options into Lloyd,” said Amy Nagy, a Prosper Portland development manager.

The project concept calls for a highly visible, high-traffic food and drink venue that complements activities at the convention center. Design priorities include a four-season gathering space, a flexible and dynamic layout, and a safe and professional experience.

Portland-based Parti Architecture LLC has completed preliminary schematic designs for the project. The team plans to submit plans to the city for design review in March.

The business plan calls for work with a third-party operator. ChefStable, a consulting and management firm that partners with chefs to build and operate restaurants, was selected for this role and will be the master leaser of the property. Food cart owners will then lease their spaces.

The total estimated redevelopment cost is $7.5 million. Prosper Portland invested $4 million and ChefStable invested $500,000.

The $3 million loan is contingent on approval by the Metro Council, which is expected to consider the proposal in March. The IGA includes a 4 percent interest rate and a 10-year payback period. Agreement on those terms will require approval by both the Metro Council and the Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners.

The project will involve interior renovations, seismic improvements and electrical work as well as partial demolition and build-out of the patio for the food carts, said Will Thier, Prosper Portland’s real estate manager.

A request for proposals will be issued for a construction manager/general contractor in May or June, Prosper Portland spokesperson Shawn Uhlman stated in an email. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and require nine to 10 months to complete. The estimated opening date is late summer 2027.

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A Dairy Queen planned in Southeast Portland will include a drive-thru after all.

Last year, Portland Permitting & Development issued a letter to the owner of the lot at 5605 S.E. Division St., which formerly held a Dairy Queen. The city requested removal of a drive-thru from the owner’s plans to rebuild the fast-food restaurant.

The property owner fought back — and won.

Mohan Grewal, who represents the Beaverton-based ownership group, argued that the drive-thru is a legal nonconforming use at the property, which had a Dairy Queen drive-thru for more than five decades before it was demolished several years ago.

Permitting officials reconsidered their position and, on Dec. 29, 2025, issued a decision allowing inclusion of a drive-thru with the new restaurant.

The move comes as the city has tightened regulation of drive-thrus. City code generally prohibits the construction of new drive-thrus.

But existing drive-thrus are allowed in the mixed-use zoning, and city code provides that “existing facilities can be rebuilt, expanded or relocated on the site.”

The ex-Dairy Queen building was demolished sometime between summer 2019 and May 2020, and Akum Investment Group, a Beaverton limited liability company, sought to build a new Dairy Queen with a drive-thru on the lot.

The former restaurant was built in 1955; it’s not clear if the drive-thru was part of the original building. But it had been there for decades: The applicant submitted a newspaper article and signed declarations from a regional Dairy Queen executive and a family member of the former owners, all indicating that a drive-thru was operating there by 1968, when city code had no prohibitions on drive-thrus.

Portland zoning code began regulating drive-thrus in 1991, depending on the zone or plan district, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

“Over time, drive-throughs have been further limited in more plan districts and overlay zones with the intent of removing the influence of vehicles and emphasizing pedestrian access,” Portland Permitting & Development spokesman Ken Ray stated in an email.

Portland began prohibiting new drive-thrus in most commercial zones in 2018 as part of the city’s 2035 comprehensive plan.

Some residents, led by those in the Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association, argued that because the drive-thru had been absent from the site for more than three years, Akum no longer had a right to rebuild it.

After Akum protested with the help of Lake Oswego lawyer Wendie Kellington, PP&D changed tack. Permitting & Development staff determined last month that city code does not necessarily require drive-thrus to be continuously operated to maintain the right to have one on the site. (Kellington did not respond to messages seeking comment).

The controversy regarding the vehicular dispensation of hot eats and cool treats drew significant public interest. PP&D received a blizzard of public comments — more than 200 were submitted via email — generating a 694-page case file.

Lauren Howard, a nearby resident, wrote that the city should not allow a new drive-thru on the lot.

“I believe the newer standards are the right fit for this neighborhood and better for safety, traffic and overall livability,” she wrote.

Another resident, Tim Silva, wrote that “traffic is too heavy in that area, and the street is too narrow.”

He added, “We don’t need backups on a two-lane road that is a major bus route and full of other vehicles. And we don’t need all those idling cars putting extra exhaust fumes into our neighborhood.”

The site lies across Division Street from Franklin High School and Atkinson Elementary School.

Other neighbors stated that the drive-thru should be allowed. Alice and Michael Powell wrote that the ownership “does have the legal right to include a drive-thru. A new DQ will be an addition to the neighborhood and a continuation of a fine tradition of family walks and occasional drives to DQ.”

The Portland Bureau of Transportation raised no objections to the drive-thru.

The building permit is set to expire on April 12 if no inspection activity occurs by then.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got a second look at plans to replace Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School with an approximately 291,000-square-foot building on the site’s south side.

The new building is planned as part of an effort to modernize the campus, at 1151 S.W. Vermont St.

The project was first presented to the Design Commission in September 2024. The biggest change from then is that the track-and-field element, previously oriented north to south, is now proposed to remain where it is due to budget constraints.

The project is valued at $349 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development. Bora Architecture & Interiors designed the project for Portland Public Schools. The project team also includes KPFF (civil and structural engineering), Rivero Design (civil engineering), NBZ Consulting Engineers (structural engineering), and Walker Macy (landscape architecture).

The existing school will remain operational during construction, because it sits upon a hill away from the buildable area.

The new school will include a theater, band and choir rooms, a cafeteria and commons, and a media center as well as classrooms and science labs, art rooms, shop spaces, a variety of specialized learning environments and administrative offices. A community health clinic may be included in the project if a service provider can be identified, the applicant’s narrative states.

Planned site improvements include a new track and field with grandstand and support buildings, new baseball, softball and soccer fields with associated site structures, new tennis courts, reconfigured parking areas, and new pedestrian pathways. The existing swimming pool, run by Portland Parks & Recreation, will remain. Facilities associated with Rieke Elementary School will also remain.

The main entrance would be on the building’s east side. Another entrance on the south side would lead to a potential health clinic. Commissioner Thomas Eldridge said the main entry does not strike him as such. Commissioners suggested adding more signage to indicate the main entry.

The site plan is extremely constrained in creating a direct north-south link by the existing locations of the track and field and pool, which push the north-south connection significantly eastward. A north-south path is thus proposed east of the pool, the city staff report states.

“The north-south connection is a really important connector,” said Tanya Paglia, a city planner for Portland Permitting & Development.

Commissioners agreed that the path should be wide. They asked the team to provide more details at the next design advice request (DAR) hearing.

Building materials and composition are still being decided, but thin brick tile in an alternating pattern is being considered as the primary cladding. Commissioners agreed that the color of the brick may be too dark, acknowledging that the shade is popular right now but may not be in the future.

“I think the kind of pathway through the building from the entry to the commons is so beautiful with the use of wood on the inside,” Commissioner Sarah Vaz said. “I love the general concept of having bark on the outside, wood on the inside. It’s just not feeling very bark-like right now.”

Vaz suggested the project team work with the school’s design advisory group and community members to determine the color of the brick, if the team hasn’t already.

Commissioner Zari Santner asked the project team to address bus and parent drop-off locations, including near the grandstand, before the next DAR hearing.

A third DAR hearing will take place on Feb. 19, 2026. The project will require a Type III conditional use review and a Type III design review. The design team plans to submit a design review application in March.

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The Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday got its first look at the proposal for a seven-to-eight-story affordable housing development. Flatworks, at 240 S.E. Grand Ave., would have approximately 143 rent-restricted units. The site is in the East Portland/Grand Avenue Historic District.

The project is valued at $25 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

TVA Architects‘ design calls for eight-story dark massing clad in masonry on the north third of the block and seven-story light massing clad in high-quality fiber-cement panels on the remaining two-thirds of the block, according to the project’s narrative.

Sturgeon Development Partners is developing the project. The team also includes civil engineer Langan of Clackamas, structural engineer KPFF, landscape architect Shapiro Didway, MEP engineer Interface Engineering, and general contractor LMC Construction.

During a type III historic resource review hearing in 2020, the Historic Landmarks Commission had approved for the site a similar proposal with office space. But that proposal did not advance, and the developer shifted to affordable housing. The plug was pulled because of a lack of demand for office space, said John Jamiel, a TVA Architects senior associate.

The project team expects to seek a permit for the new proposal by April 2026.

At the ground level facing Southeast Grand Avenue, programming would include a lobby, offices, community rooms, a gym and bike parking. Eight parking stalls would be provided inside a ground-level garage with access at mid-block on Pine Street. Ground-floor glazing and active programming would generally be oriented toward Grand Avenue and on the corners, with building services at mid-block facing Ash and Pine streets.

The design team wants to offer some kind of roof deck for residents – on level 8 – and is looking into the cost of such an amenity.

Exterior cladding materials would include brick, composite metal panels, fiber-cement paneling and ribbed metal paneling. There would be five levels of wood framing over three levels of concrete.

The proposed fiber-cement material appeared to be of decent quality, commission Chair Andrew Smith said. Previously, for the office building proposal, only a couple of materials would’ve been used, he added.

“I would encourage the design team, as you move this forward, to take a hard look at that and try to simplify (the material palette),” Smith said.

Commissioner Hugo Hamblin-Agosto suggested the design team look for softer colors for the exterior instead of the dark brick so the building would blend more with the district. Pam Saftler, a TVA Architects principal, said alternatives would be a red or brown brick.

“I don’t find the dark nature of the material that has been chosen to be objectionable at all,” Smith said. “I’ve seen a couple of other buildings of this scale using that type and tone of brick and I’ve seen them be very successful.”

One of the potential modifications is related to required building lines. The space between the building and the street lot line must be designed as an extension of the sidewalks and committed to active uses such as sidewalk cafes, vendor’s stands or developed as “stopping places,” the city’s staff report states. The proposal includes raised planter beds along most of the street frontages between the building setback and the lot lines instead of treating this area as an active space. The commissioners suggested removing the planters to allow for a communal space for residents.

Another potential modification is to the requirement of an eco-roof. Currently, one is planned on level 2.

“We’re looking at providing solar panels in lieu of providing an eco-roof,” Jamiel said, adding that stormwater would have to be managed in a different way.

Commissioners expressed support for eliminating the eco-roof as long as there would be stormwater mitigation. Smith suggested the team seek an equivalent that would provide benefits like those of an eco-roof.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its first look at plans for an affordable housing development at 1701 S.E. Water Ave., in the OMSI District. Approximately 100 residential units are proposed for the five-story Los Colibris (“The Hummingbirds”) building.

This is the first project within the OMSI Central City Master Plan, which was adopted in 2023. The project site, tract A, is in the Central Eastside Industrial District, between the main Oregon Museum of Science and Industry building and the Pepco workshop/warehouse. The Marquam Bridge looms to the immediate west.

Holst Architecture is designing the project for owner/co-developer Hacienda CDC and co-developer Edlen & Co. OMSI is the landowner. The project team also includes civil engineer KPFF, landscape architect PLACE, and general contractor Colas Construction.

The project is valued at $36 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

The proposal moves the site’s existing parking and loading access point to the north of the tract and places additional separation between the Los Colibris building and the master plan’s Open Space-2, where the OMSI waterfront education park is planned.

While the project is still in conceptual design, Holst Architecture is eyeing cross-laminated timber (CLT) for the building. The team is also looking to meet passive house standards for energy efficiency, focus on quality of light, and include vibrant colors.

Active ground-level uses would be mainly in the building’s middle and northern portions. They would include meeting rooms, a multipurpose community room with a kitchen, a lobby with mail space, office space for resident services, and property management offices. The project team proposes to keep the community room at the center of the building.

There is not enough programming to fill the entire ground floor, said Dustin Furseth, a Holst Architecture senior associate.

“I’m totally OK with having that community facility in the middle (of the ground floor) as long as there is floor-to-ceiling windows, so pedestrians have a visual connection to the greenway,” Commissioner Zari Santner said.

Some residential units are proposed for the southern end of the ground floor. Most would be situated on the west elevation, facing a garden and play area. However, two would face the Bull Run public right-of-way connecting to the greenway, four would face Water Avenue, and a two-bedroom unit would be at the corner of Water Avenue and the Bull Run area, a staff report states.

The Bull Run path is about 30 feet wide and runs along the south side of tract A, according to city spokesman Elliott Kozuch. The Portland Water Bureau owns the Bull Run, and beneath the path there is a pipe used to move water from the Bull Run watershed on Mount Hood to the Washington Park reservoir.

Commission Chair Brian McCarter suggested flipping the ground floor’s layout so the early learning center would be where the two-bedroom unit is currently. Then the early learning center would be on the more pedestrian-accessible side of the building.

“I do have a lot of concern about … the sequencing of Bull Run and the units (planned near) the property line,” Commissioner Joe Swank said.

Commissioners suggested a five-foot setback or elevation change. The design team agreed to examine how high the first floor could be constructed in accounting for the residential units situated near the Bull Run path. Landscaping would also provide a buffer for the units.

Active ground-floor space on the east elevation would be set behind an arcade – a series of arches supported by columns that create a covered walkway. The commissioners suggested a wrap-around canopy as an alternative.

The design includes an outdoor courtyard in front of the building and outdoor communal space in the back. This courtyard allows space for residents and their guests to gather and be partly sheltered from the noise of Marquam Bridge traffic.

“I think the courtyard is essential,” Commissioner Joe Swank said.

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A new building for intensive psychiatric support of children is in the works. The single-story, 10,375-square-foot building will be located on Trillium Family Services‘ 13-acre Southeast Portland campus, at 3415 S.E. Powell Blvd.

The Whole Person Psychiatric Residential Treatment Building will be the campus’ first addition constructed from the ground up since the early 1990s. The building will hold 12 inpatient treatment beds for children, allowing Trillium Family Services to expand its care. It will be located between Trillium’s academic building and its healing garden.

The building will be a wood-framed structure with fiber cement siding and a metal roof.

TVA Architects designed the project for Trillium Family Services. The project team also includes civil engineer KPFF, structural engineer Catena Consulting Engineers, landscape architect Ground Workshop, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer Interface Engineering, and general contractor Fortis Construction.

TVA Architects previously designed for Trillium two inpatient buildings at the Children’s Farm Home campus in Corvallis. Tim Wybenga, a TVA principal, said staffers spoke with some of the kids who have stayed in these facilities to learn which elements were important to them. Ample access to daylight was a high priority.

“A lot of times, the solution to prevent breakage of windows is to minimize or remove windows,” Wybenga said. “We’ve found access to views to nature and daylight being so important, so we’ve been more strategic in how we’ve configured the windows.”

Trauma-informed design principles were used to ensure access to nature. All bedrooms will face existing trees and overlook the healing garden. Plus, a greenhouse and a rock maze at the back edge of the property are in a buffer area between the campus and a residential neighborhood. The palette for materials will include earth tones, greens and blues.

“There’s this beautiful garden space where kids are working in the dirt and growing things,” Trillium Family Services CEO Jamie Vandergon said, adding that the kids host a small farmer’s market every year.

The building will serve the entire campus and include therapy rooms for individuals, groups, and families; collaborative staff work areas; and play-based therapeutic amenities such as a sensory playroom, secure outdoor areas, and a gross motor kitchen for children to practice making meals.

There will also be spaces for partner agencies’ physicians and occupational or physical therapists. One partner, Neurotherapeutic Pediatric Therapies, weighed in on the design of an occupational therapy space that will include yoga balls and mats as well as aerial silk swings that provide compression. There will also be a primary care suite, which will likely be staffed by Trillium’s partners.

A large multipurpose room will accommodate indoor play, special programs, movie nights or different therapeutic activities in a group setting, Wybenga said.

“Your environment has so much to do with your healing,” Vandergon said. “Creating a brand-new trauma-informed healing environment for kids in crisis is such a tremendous benefit to the care we provide and to the kids.”

The intent of the design is to provide life enrichment for kids and visiting families, Wybenga said. Each of the 12 treatment spaces will have an adjacent room for family members to visit children in safe spaces.

Staff will have their own spaces to meet or decompress both inside the building and around the campus to either meet or decompress from challenging situations.

Trillium does a lot for kids throughout Oregon, Wybenga said, adding that it is meaningful to be a part of this project.

The total project cost is $15.1 million, which includes finishes and furniture. The project is fully funded and includes $13.1 million from Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations and an additional $2 million from one of those CCOs – CareOregon.

Construction of the new building is expected to start early next year and finish in late spring 2027.

On the Boards is a 91��Ƶ feature offering a look at projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91��Ƶ reporter Hilary Dorsey at hdorsey@djcOregon.com.

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Plans to redevelop Centennial Mills received the Portland Design Commission‘s unanimous approval on Thursday.

Three mixed-use buildings are designed for the site, at 1362 N.W. Naito Parkway, along the Willamette River. Buildings 1 and 2 will be five stories and Building 2 will be six stories; all will share 174 below-grade parking spaces. The proposal is to include a total of 272 residential units and four retail spaces in the buildings.

SERA Architects designed the project – valued at $80 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development – for Lindquist Development Co.

The project team participated in a pre-application conference in 2023 and then twice met with the Design Commission for advice. The team submitted a land use application this past August. The first land use hearing was held last month, when the commission delayed voting on the proposal.

The Design Commission approved modification requests to reduce the size of parking stalls, allow non-river-dependent exterior lights for ground-floor residential patios, and allow vehicle access along Naito Parkway. The review included allowing buildings and associated development in the River Environmental overlay zone, ramp and stair access to the river, a public trail, and four stormwater outfalls.

The commission added to the summary a note suggesting the project team acknowledge the Indigenous community in some way regarding the river access, possibly with signage, although it is not a requirement for approval.

During the previous hearing, the commission discussed the issue of human access to the river, the apparent absence of HVAC units on the rooftop, and plans for the existing water tower and a new replica.

The condenser units will be underground in the parking garage, the team explained.

The applicant, SERA Architects, added stairs and a ramp for river access. At the intersection of the Tanner Creek woonerf and plaza and the Greenway Trail, there will be an overlook of the river.

“From that overlook, we’re proposing a concrete, very gentle stair that takes you down to what we’re calling the beach area that is just riverward of the sea wall that is existing currently on the site,” SERA Architects principal Kurt Schultz said.

From that overlook area, the design team has added an accessible path, allowing pedestrians to reach the river in a different location. The path will also be made of concrete.

Commissioner Sarah Vaz asked about widening the pathway to accommodate bicyclists. A 15-foot-wide trail exists now, Schultz said. The design team sees this new path as a pedestrian promenade to the river.

The design team also added a landscaping area with trees to create a buffer against the new pathway. To make the pathway wider, the landscaping strip would have to be narrowed but would still include some trees. Commissioners Zari Santner voiced concern about reducing the size of the landscaping strip and Chair Brian McCarter said widening the pathway is not necessary.

For the water tower, the plan is to create a steel replica of the structure holding up the water tank on the roof of parcel 2. The existing water tank is intended to be salvaged and relocated to the prepared armature. If salvage of the original tank is not possible, a replica tank will be built out of metal with the same details and proportions as the original.

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A large-scale survey of landlords and housing operators in Oregon showed a mixed picture for the multifamily market, with average rents rising across the state despite a modest increase in vacancies.

Rents rose 3 percent from a year ago to $2.11 per square foot. The vacancy rate in the Portland and Vancouver metro area grew to 5.47 percent, up from 4.49 percent a year ago.

The data comes from Multifamily NW’s biannual Apartment Report. The organization surveys 460 properties totaling 42,000 units.

Multifamily brokers saw a silver lining in the data.

“I feel like we’ve kind of hit a bottom for valuation,” said Greg Frick, co-founder of HFO Investment Real Estate, in an interview. “We have seen a pick-up in investment activity.”

Multifamily buyers have stopped expecting bargain-basement deals, said Frick, who serves on the Apartment Report’s advisory committee. “They’ve come up a little, and sellers have come down a little,” he said.

Multifamily transactions grew to 93 deals in the Portland metro area during the first nine months of the year, up from 80 for the same period in 2024. Dollar volume likewise jumped 55.3 percent to $1.53 billion. Capitalization rates hovered around 6 percent.

Little new supply is expected to come online: Only 2,000 units were under construction this fall, leaving the metro area’s pipeline at its lowest level since 2011. That should help buoy rents, but does little to address the ongoing housing deficit, analysts said.

Multifamily NW hosted a release event for the report at the Oregon Convention Center. Speakers gave a dizzying blizzard of starkly negative economic data and positive anecdotes.

Mayor Keith Wilson, in the keynote speech, gave several examples of what he calls “boom loop” thinking that will contribute to Portland’s economic revival.

Wilson pointed to proposed development at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry district and the Broadway Corridor. Visitors are coming back to Portland, with hotel occupancy up 5 percent from 2024, he said.

The James Beard Public Market is under construction downtown and efforts are underway to revitalize some of Portland’s most blighted areas, including parts of the Old Town- Chinatown neighborhood and Water Avenue in Southeast Portland.

“We are going to build back Portland better right now, with or without the federal government,” he said.

The city is also working to help developers build housing, including by waiving system development charges for housing for three years, by expanding video permit inspections and eliminating bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“We will not hold up your dreams in Portland,” Wilson said.

Wilson’s upbeat remarks were immediately followed by a notably dreary economic forecast by Mike Wilkerson, director of economic research for ECOnorthwest. By some economic indicators, Oregon and Washington are in a recession while most of the rest of the country continues to grow, he said.

The state has lost 18,300 jobs in the past year, a majority of which were in Multnomah County, he said. Portland is one of only five of the top 50 metro areas in the U.S. seeing job loss.

“We are very much the exception to the rule,” Wilkerson said. He added that Oregon and the U.S. are likely to see population begin to decline unless the nation allows more immigration.

Nationally, Moody’s Analytics recently put the odds of a U.S. recession in the next 12 months at 48 percent.

The share of cost-burdened renters in the Portland area remained unchanged in the past decade despite a well-funded push to build affordable housing. Those efforts have only succeeded in keeping the numbers stable, Wilkerson said.

“We would certainly be worse had we not done what we have done,” he said.

Industry officials said Portland must do more to attract jobs, housing and economic activity.

“We need to figure out a way to be competitive,” Frick said. “As a region, we rest on our laurels a little bit — that people will come no matter what. I think that’s changed.”

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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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