PORTLAND, Ore. — Near-silent since 2021, Lloyd Center owners Thursday unveiled a grand plan for the 29-acre property in which most, if not all, of the mall will disappear in a $1 billion-plus metamorphosis.
Where that money will come from, and who will pay it, are yet to be determined. Owners are filing designs with the city of Portland this week and believe first-phase homebuilding could start in two to three years.
Urban Renaissance Group and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc.'s (NYSE: KREF) vision accommodates up to 5,000 new homes, a headquarters office campus if the right company comes along, retailers, restaurants, entertainment venues and, of course, the cherished Lloyd Center ice rink.
Through the transformation, mall floors would give way to airy open space. Roads would cross the property in a "goalpost" shape, connecting to Holladay Park to the south and Northeast Halsey Street due north. A "12th Avenue Promenade" would welcome walkers.
If development and sports plans align, there is room for a Major League Baseball stadium, but owners would need to tweak their designs.
Transforming a 1960s mall into a neighborhood by developing individual parcels across several phases could take a decade or more. Owners who've signed 32 mall leases and many tenant renewals since taking over in 2021 stressed the shopping center remains open for now.
Yet by the end of redevelopment, none of the mall might be left, said Tom Kilbane, URG managing director. Inside URG's sixth-floor office in downtown's Morgan Building, a slideshow revealing the plans, Kilbane described this as a once-in-a career project.
"You don't want to screw it up," he said.
The Portland Business Journal, a news partner of KGW, has much more on the Lloyd Center proposal here.
