KYLE GREEN / PORTLAND TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO
The addition of one or more floors to the northeast block of the Pioneer Place shopping center, known as the Rotunda Block, is one of the projects under consideration in the downtown shopping core.
Retail core will get a boost
Downtown businesses plan renovations to fight loss of customers to suburbs
By Jim Redden
Downtown business owners and city leaders are preparing to invest millions of dollars in the retail core in coming years to better compete against the growing number of successful suburban shopping centers.
The money will be on top of the approximately $219 million in public and private funds being spent to renovate the transit mall. Additional projects under consideration include adding one or more floors to the northeast block of the Pioneer Place shopping center, known as the Rotunda Block. A complete remodeling of the downtown Nordstrom store also is in the works.
Sandra McDonough, the Portland Business Alliance chief executive officer and and president, said the investments are necessary for downtown to regain its competitive advantage against the suburban centers.
The PBA recently presented an updated Downtown Retail Strategy to the Portland Development Commission that calls for around $15 million in targeted public spending to retain and attract downtown retailers.
The business organization also supported Mayor Tom Potter’s Street Access for Everyone proposal to increase social services downtown.
“You’ve got a lot of people focusing on downtown now trying to figure out how we can make this crown jewel of the regional economy healthy again,” she said.
According to McDonough, the regional retail environment has changed dramatically in recent years, especially with the opening of Bridgeport Village and the Streets of Tanasbourne, two so-called lifestyle centers that feature the kind of upscale stores that could only be found downtown in the past.
Bringing shoppers back
The update found that retail growth in the suburban centers is far outpacing downtown. According to the update, leasable downtown space was expected to hold steady at around 2 million square feet through 2008, but increase from around 2.6 million square feet to approximately 4 million square feet in 2008 at the suburban centers.
The update found much of this suburban space was being filled by retailers who once had been exclusive to downtown, including BCBG, Coach, Mario’s and Pottery Barn.
“In the past, these exclusive stores made downtown a shopping destination. Now they can be found outside of the retail core,” McDonough said.
A number of factors also have emerged in recent years that have made downtown shopping trips more difficult, according to the update. Those factors include aggressive panhandlers, sidewalk obstructions and a growing number of construction projects – in addition to the mall renovation – that block streets.
“Coming downtown should be special trip, not a challenging one,” McDonough said.
Despite the problems, downtown boosters say the Portland retail core is the envy of the nation. Potter spent much of his Jan. 19 State of the City speech praising downtown’s vitality and noting that many other major American cities essentially close down on evenings and weekends.
In contrast, Potter noted that business owners already have committed hundreds of millions of dollars for new downtown projects, including developer Tom Moyer, who recently announced plans to build a 35-story mixed use high-rise tower on the block just west of Nordstrom.
“The city, including its downtown core, is alive and well,” Potter told the capacity City Club crowd gathered at the Governor Hotel.
Expanding the core
The retail core is defined in city policies as the 35-block area bordered by Southwest Salmon and Washington streets between Southwest Third and 10th avenues.
According to McDonough, one reason for the core’s success is the Business Improvement District formed by local property owners who assess themselves to provide additional security and cleaning services.
McDonough said talks are under way to expand the boundaries to include the five blocks along Southwest Second Avenue and the 10 blocks between Southwest 10th and 12th avenues.
According to McDonough, the Second Avenue blocks should be included because they already are hosting major retailers, including Borders bookstore. And, McDonough said, the blocks between 10th and 12th avenues are poised for redevelopment projects that could use such services – including a series of mixed-use high-rises similar to the one proposed by Moyer.
“We need more people living downtown, and these blocks could become a new residential center,” she said.
jimredden@portlandtribune.com
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/...77306425785100