DT Portland begins retail boost: Pioneer Place considers expanding up - Page 3

pdxman · #41 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 6:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PacificNW

I don't think pdxman is a supporter of downtown PDX. I think he would be happier with the retail mix in cities like Dallas or Houston if he thinks the retail situation in downtown PDX is bad. He is a mall snob, no doubt. There is NO WAY Federated Dept. Stores or Nordstrom would invest millions in downtown PDX if they thought it was a lost cause...seriously..

Oh pacnw, easy does it. Indeed i'm not a "mall snob" and do not enjoy going out to the burbs to shop. I quite hate it--too clean and rich for me. And perhaps i should clarify as to what i consider DT. DT proper to me is encapsuled by burnside, 405 and naito pkwy. With psu and the park blocks being the exception. the pearl, nw, goose hollow and the central eastside i consider to be the DT area. Its pretty sad to be labeled a "mall snob" just because i voice my displeasure with what i see in DT. Just because i have a different opinion doesn't mean i'm automatically wrong...thats a very american way of thinking. The truth is i live DT, i walk(have no car, don't want one) or ride the streetcar to my work in the pearl EVERYDAY so i see things that i honestly think could be a lot better. I don't make these remarks because i hate portland or because i think its a "lost cause", if i did i'd move to beaverton or lake oswego. but i won't because i love DT portland and i just see so much potential and improvement to be made. i also suffer from the problem of always viewing things in a critical or negative light. I love the pearl--its easily my favorite spot in portland, followed closely by nw. But DT portland to me needs a lot of work before i think it becomes what it can be. I just have very high expectations for portland. I'm always looking at it with a tourists eye, a critics eye to find what could be better. Thats why i say what i do...

PacificNW · #42 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 7:53 AM**

↑pdxman: I guess I was a little out of line by calling you a mall snob but seriously (and you probably have done this) visit some other cities in the U.S. and you will see that downtown Portland is light years ahead of many of them in terms of health and livability

By the way, I am not a huge fan of the "current" Pearl. I think when the city zoned it for its present state we got too much of squatty brick clad condo's and not enough variety in height and texture...just my opinion. But it is so much nicer than what is used to be and the future looks brighter for bringing variety into the mix. (Metropolitan Tower, The Edge).

It just seemed that you were stuck on the negative aspects of Portland. I guess I could have misunderstood. I am definitely not an expert but I have lived in many cities in the U.S. and many would give their eye teeth for what you guys have in Portland. Seriously....there is nothing wrong in having very high expectations for Portland. High expectations help drive the city to be special...its citizens, for the most part, care a great deal for it. Have a good one and don't mind me.

pdxman · #43 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 8:23 AM**

Of course i'll mind you pacnw, you have good points...i do admit (as before) to being too negative. I have never lived in portland before 8 months ago and i lived and traveled through many other cities that were boring and awful, all the while dreaming of portland. Then i arrived expecting things here to be amazing, and certainly they are compared to some cities, but i was sort of let down by some of the problems that i now find plague the city ie. homelessness, panhandling, unsafe people and behavior on max and streetcar. See, here i go again. With me, instead of comparing portland to places like omaha, slc, boise, sacramento or pitt i compare portland to san fran, new york, chicago, london, vancouver and say to myself--thats what i want portland to be. Overall, portland is great and it has an awesome dense feel that very few cities our size and bigger manage to have. I do love portland--its tough love tho sometimes

65MAX · #44 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 10:14 AM**

I think we all love Portland, or we wouldn't be here. Most of us here have lived in other cities and appreciate that it really is different here, compared to other cities. And different in a (mostly) positive way. You're right to want to compare us to great cities like SF, NY, London, et al. But Portland will never be like them, just as SF will never be like NY, which will never be like London, which looks nothing like Vancouver or Chicago or New Orleans. The thing these cities have in common is that they are demonstrably unique. Unique culture, unique architecture, unique setting and unique mindset. Portland has 3 out of 4 (our architecture's lacking), but our urban form is uniquely ours (small city blocks, extensive park network, UGB) and our leadership in Green building almost qualifies us for 4 out of 4. Most cities are lucky to have one of these.

So are we a "Great City"? I'd say we're pretty damn close.

*end cheerleading*

pdxtex · #45 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 11:14 AM**

screw the tourists. if you want to make downtown more lively, build a 24 hour laundromat or mid size grocery store that "normal" people can actually afford to shop at.....its funny that we all want this proactive, world class city, but when its 3 am and we need to get basic necessities, they are not available......

Urbanpdx · #46 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 3:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxman

Of course i'll mind you pacnw, you have good points...i do admit (as before) to being too negative. I have never lived in portland before 8 months ago and i lived and traveled through many other cities that were boring and awful, all the while dreaming of portland. Then i arrived expecting things here to be amazing, and certainly they are compared to some cities, but i was sort of let down by some of the problems that i now find plague the city ie. homelessness, panhandling, unsafe people and behavior on max and streetcar. See, here i go again. With me, instead of comparing portland to places like omaha, slc, boise, sacramento or pitt i compare portland to san fran, new york, chicago, london, vancouver and say to myself--thats what i want portland to be. Overall, portland is great and it has an awesome dense feel that very few cities our size and bigger manage to have. I do love portland--its tough love tho sometimes

I tend to agree...

MarkDaMan · #47 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 4:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxman

perhaps i should clarify as to what i consider DT. DT proper to me is encapsuled by burnside, 405 and naito pkwy. With psu and the park blocks being the exception. the pearl, nw, goose hollow and the central eastside i consider to be the DT area.

for most of us here, on this forum, that makes sense. Most people consider Manhattan downtown NY, but indeed there is uptown, and downtown, and Broadway...etc...etc...To my parents that live outside Hillsboro, downtown is NW and the Pearl, and the CBD, SoWa, and the Lloyd...okay not so much the Lloyd

Seriously though, only urban planners and people that live downtown really view the 'downtown area' as a seperate category than 'downtown proper'.

In any case, I'm glad you have high expectations of your city. It has improved greatly in the last few years, and I think with an influx of residents that continue to take pride in their new adopted city, Portland's central city will continue to strengthen and form its own identity comparable to other world class destinations.

Urbanpdx · #48 Posted **Jan 30, 2007, 4:37 PM**

I agree, except people who live in the Pearl, NW, etc. also view "downtown" as 'downtown proper'.

edirp · #49 Posted **Jan 31, 2007, 1:37 AM**

H&M to Debut New Concept

JANUARY 30, 2007 -- Stockholm, Sweden-based H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, an international brand that offers fashion-forward clothing at low prices, announced plans to expand into the home textile market and to also open a new, more expensive apparel chain. Strong holiday sales propelled H&M’s full-year profit ahead by a better-than-expected 17 percent, and the fast-fashion chain said it would push into the home textile market and start opening stores for its new apparel chain--Collection of Style, or COS--this March. The first store will open in March on London’s Regent Street, carrying both men's and women’s collections. H&M said some 10 stores are scheduled to open during the year in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium. H&M said it would launch H&M Home Textiles, starting with Internet and catalog sales this fall. H&M said profit after financial items hit $1.94 billion last year. Sales in the fourth quarter rose 8 percent to $2.79 billion, from $2.58 billion, driven by a 16 percent increase in December revenues.

pdxtraveler · #50 Posted **Jan 31, 2007, 4:31 PM**

Now that H&M is in both San Francisco and L.A. we hopefully are next!

pdxman · #51 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 12:32 AM**

I know i've been harsh on DT retail in the past, but i had to post this and i'm quite happy to see this commitment...

Quote:

UPDATE: Brooks Brothers coming to Portland
Luxury clothier Brooks Brothers is finalizing a lease for its first Portland store, which would anchor the long underused Galleria building downtown, The Oregonian has learned.

The nation's oldest clothing retailer, established in 1818, Brooks Brothers is known for luxurious suits worn by presidents dating to Lincoln. The brand has been growing since it was bought in 2001 by Retail Brand Alliance Inc., and opened flagship stores in London and Paris last year.

The store would be located in a currently vacant space on the MAX rail line, at the corner of Southwest Morrison Street and Ninth Avenue. The pending deal is a coup for the Galleria, which has been mostly vacant for several years. Its largest tenant is Western Culinary Institute.

Brooks Brothers has been trying to find a suitable downtown Portland location for several years, having failed to get into the American Bank Building at Southwest Broadway and Morrison streets. It has an outlet store location in Woodburn.

-- Dylan Rivera

Dougall5505 · #52 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 12:39 AM**

thanks pdxman more retail news:
Long-dark corner ready to sparkle
PDC works with Carl Greve Jewelers to draw big spenders to city core
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
DYLAN RIVERA
Carl Greve Jewelers this summer will move into the long-vacant retail space at Southwest Broadway and Morrison Street, in a deal that brings a little dazzle to a key corner of the downtown retail scene.

Vacant for more than a year, the space in the historic American Bank Building had become a symbol for some in the business community of a downtown in need of help. After all, if a site where Broadway intersects the MAX light-rail line, across the street from Nordstrom and Pioneer Courthouse Square couldn't get leased, what did that say about downtown?

It turns out the building's owners and the Portland Development Commission haggled for more than a year on the potential to locate the city's first Brooks Brothers store. But those talks broke down at the same time that Carl Greve was earnestly searching to replace its 84-year-old site a block away.

"It's a world of difference in visibility compared to what we have now, even though Morrison has been a really strong retail street," said Tim Greve, president.

The courting of Brooks Brothers and the landing of Greve illustrates a new PDC effort to help finance retail tenant improvements for anchors that the agency says could boost the downtown area and attract shoppers who will spend money at smaller shops as well.

The PDC will loan Greve $500,000 and grant it $32,000 for tenant improvements in the American Bank Building, a 1913 office building designed by A.E. Doyle, said Lew Bowers, a senior development manager.

"They are local, and they have a history with the city," Bowers said. "They are destination retailers -- people come to the city to shop at Carl Greve."

The agency didn't do enough to lure Brooks Brothers, said Bob Scanlan, chief executive of ScanlanKemperBard Companies, known as SKB, which owns the building. Scanlan said he's happy to have Greve as a tenant but he said the PDC would only offer loans at 6 percent, which he said amounted to "de minimus" help.

At issue were tenant improvements of more than $200 a square foot that Brooks Brothers demanded -- more than four times the going rate for many small retailers, Scanlan said.

Anchors often require a high level of tenant amenities, but their presence brings shoppers to the entire area.

"I think the PDC is kind of a paper tiger now," Scanlan said. "In the old days, that deal would have gotten done."

Bowers said the PDC negotiated with SKB and Brooks Brothers for more than six months, and brought the parties back to the bargaining table even after talks broke down. The agency was offering even more money for that deal, which would have involved two floors of shop space rather than the single floor Greve plans.

"I don't think it would be fair to call it de minimus, it was significant," Bowers said.

In the coming year's budget, the agency hopes for $12.5 million for similar strategic downtown retail loans, including $7.5 million for shops in the city's 10th and Morrison parking garage.

Many retailers looked at Broadway and Morrison space over the years and passed. SKB passed on others, Scanlan said. The owner decided to drive a hard bargain for the first floor retail space, renting upper-floors offices for relatively cheap rates, Scanlan said.

Greve will rent 3,900 square feet on the first floor, in a lease that sources close to the deal say comes out to about $65 a square foot for at least 10 years. The firm will also occupy 4,000 square feet of office space above.

Scanlan said SKB turned down an offer from Fidelity, the financial services company, in order to rent the space to Greve, which would bring more foot traffic.

"You can't have a more beautiful display on a great corner than a jewelry store," said Mark New, the broker who brought Greve and SKB together. "It gives people a reason to window-shop and browse around."

we might need a independent thread for retail news