The Design Commission has approved a remodel and expansion of the Lloyd Center West Anchor building and plaza, designed by Waterleaf Architecture, 505 Design and Greenworks. The former Nordstrom building will be renovated for the use of multiple tenants, with a new floor added for a music venue operated by Live Nation.

The Lloyd Center west anchor building, seen above in 2014, was constructed in 1989, at the same time that the mall was covered from an open air mall to an enclosed mall. The building formerly housed Nordstrom, which closed its Lloyd Center location in January 2015. In February 2015 Nordstrom sold the building for $7.5 million to Cypress Equities, who own the rest of the Lloyd Center.

Since purchasing the mall, Cypress Equities have embarked on a number of projects to rejuvenate it, including the creation of a new plaza and entry adjacent to Macy’s and the remodel of the Lloyd Mall 8 cinemas into office space for Providence Medical Group. The east anchor building, formerly home to Sears, is set to be renovated and expanded into a 14 screen theater operated by Regal Cinemas.

The publicly accessible plaza at the corner of NE Multnomah and 9th Ave will be completely renovated, with new planting areas, seating, hardscape and a covered pavilion structure. The existing sculpture titled “Capitalism” will remain in its current location.

The existing brick on the building will be removed, and replaced with light colored fiber cement Equitone or Swiss Pearl cladding.

At the first floor the mall concourse will be extended into the building, with a new main entry to the Lloyd Center created where the entry to Nordstrom was previously located. The existing entry to the mall, located at the corner of the plaza, will be closed and filled in with new retail space. At the ground floor new storefronts will be added facing the plaza and NE 9th Ave, as well as at the upper floors facing the plaza.

The Live Nation venue will occupy levels 3 and 4 of the building. A new and wider bridge will connect the top level of the existing parking garage to level 3 of the venue. The venue will also have a dedicated elevator leading to it from the concourse on level 1.

An earlier proposal for the renovation of the building, before the Live Nation venue was proposed, went in front of the Design Commission for Design Advice in March 2017 and May 2017. The expanded project went in front of the Commission for Design Advice meeting in May and June 2018, and for Type III Design Review hearings on September and October 2018. The project was approved by a unanimous vote. In the Final Findings and Decision by the Design Commission the renovation was found to “reimagine” the existing structure:

As one of the most rapidly transforming Districts in the City, the Lloyd District is an exciting showcase for thoughtful urban design, revitalizing a historically auto-oriented commercial district. This proposal utilizes an existing monolithic building and underutilized open space and reimagines it as vibrant elements that contribute to an active and high-quality pedestrian environment.

The project will be need to be submitted for building permit review before construction can begin.

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