The global impact of the pandemic rendered new urban commercial and industrial office development and related financing infeasible. This impact continues with the rise in employees working from home. Locally, the office market softened significantly, with Portland’s central city carrying much of that impact and continuing to experience significant office vacancy.
As a result, Beam Development partnered with Colas Development Group to look for new opportunities to bring development to the area in alignment with what is allowed in an industrial zone. After discussion with Live Nation, they proposed an entertainment venue for Block B that would fill an existing gap in Portland’s venue market while bringing a destination use to the Central Eastside. The proposed project aligns with the RFP goals of maximizing timely development consistent with zoning requirements and with no public subsidy. The remaining two blocks will also align with land use requirements and the key tenets of the RFP.