Hold on.
If Saks stays abandoned, what are the odds that in the next 20 years, someone would build a 500 footer on this spot? We can't even get PAW built, and that's nowhere near 500 ft.
Remember what happened the last time Apple tried to build in Portland. In hopes of achieving the epitome of what a few people whose taste is probably questionable thought of as absolute perfection, Portland ended up with nothing. Apple abandoned their plans due to the ridiculousness of the hassle.
Good job, PDC!
Here's what ended up on that spot instead. Ugly building. Less foot traffic. That's a loss for the overall health of retail on 23rd.
Also, let's be honest. How many people complained about having just one store occupying the space when Saks was built? Was Saks a 500 footer? A huge Apple Store is better for downtown than Saks. It's going to create more foot traffic than Saks did and it's going to attract more customers who are likely to wander to other nearby shops. That's a win for downtown retail.
Apple brings a ton of foot traffic. There's no denying that. With Apple on 4th and Target on 10th, plus Macy's, Nordstrom, etc, there's potential for a lot of smaller shops to really benefit from a ton of foot traffic. It'll hopefully even be great for the mall. In a perfect world, Apple would have wanted a massive chunk inside the mall, perhaps including a corner or side entrance, and another Saks type retailer (though not so high end) would have wanted the Saks building. That's not happening. And, really, this is better since we'll be getting a very attractive structure that'll draw a ton of foot traffic right in the heart of our downtown retail, not to mention a bit more open space (though the term plaza seems like a stretch, but that's fine).
This should be such a big win for Portland. It would be anywhere else... but here, we're trying to figure out how to get Apple to make the structure ugly enough to justify tearing down a bland building that We Can't Even Fill.
Somehow, in Portland, an abandoned Saks with bad 90s suburban mall architecture is better than a modern stylish architecture with a store that'll bring in a ton of foot traffic. CRAZY.
I love Portland, but I do not claim to always understand this town.