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City of Portland ends lease with Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown

The downtown location on Southwest Yamhill had been operating for nearly 17 years.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The downtown Portland location of Buffalo Wild Wings has closed after 17 years. 

Both the city of Portland and the company have confirmed the closure of the location near Southwest 4th and Morrison, which opened in December 2007.

In a memo to its downtown employees, Wray Hutchinson, the president of World Wide Wings, said starting in May 2020, the building began incurring a lot of property damage, with the parking garage becoming a "haven for crime and drug use." 

The memo described cars being vandalized, awnings set on fire, equipment thrown from the top of the garage onto the sidewalk, and employees and guests feeling unsafe.

"Despite spending tens of thousands of dollars in building and vehicle repairs, we fought hard to stay," Hutchinson continued, adding the company tried to enlist the help of the city, which owns the building and parking garage, for increased security. 

The city of Portland, in response, closed down the parking garage, which proved a death knell for the business; sales declined then 25%, the memo stated. This March, sales dipped 50%, "a month that is historically our busiest due to March Madness."

On March 31, the city informed Buffalo Wild Wings via memo that the lease would not continue.

Meanwhile, the city said Saturday that the sports bar had stopped paying rent. 

"For months, the City of Portland has been in communication with Buffalo Wild Wings to help address their concerns and bring them into compliance with their written lease agreement by requesting that they pay their rent," said a city spokesperson via email. "We have made numerous good faith attempts to find solutions while also prioritizing and carrying out downtown revitalization efforts. We believe this was a necessary step, and we are hopeful to find a business to rent the vacant space."

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