There will not be another holiday season at Lloyd Center, according to its owners.
The developers did not specify the exact closing date of the Northeast Portland mall, but they do intend to give existing tenants at least three months’ notice before demolition.
Mall developer Urban Renaissance Group has plans for an 18-block area in the heart of the city with an emphasis on housing—both affordable and market-rate—retail storefronts, streets connected to public transit, and 6 acres of publicly accessible open space for the community. What they do not include: a permanent ice rink.
Lloyd Center ice rink. (Michael Raines)
Tom Kilbane, managing director of Urban Renaissance Group, which co-owns the mall with KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, says the ice rink was never going to remain where it is. It would be “physically impossible,” as its currently under the atrium in the center of the property. Kilbane envisions seasonal ice skating within one of the open spaces as part of the future plan.
“In 1960, the Lloyd Center was an innovative symbol of Portland’s future. Today, it’s ready, once again, to be part of a new chapter in our city’s history,” Kilbane says.
KKR foreclosed on Lloyd Center in 2021. Since then, Kilbane has offered cut-rate rents to a diverse selection of tenants, always with the understanding that the mall was slated for demolition (“Dawn of the Undead Mall,” WW, June 26, 2024). Tenants include Floating World Comics, Star Tropics Pinball Museum, Secondhand Pet Supply and Virtua art gallery.
Virtua owner Matt Henderson has become the face of the Save Lloyd campaign. Henderson says there are some bona fide businesses that have been incubated in the past five years at the mall. He sees “a magnificent creative rebirth of the mall” that doesn’t deserve the wrecking ball.
“Citizens and our elected representatives should really wake up to what’s at stake here,” Henderson says. “We’re talking about a historic fixture in Portland.” A Save Lloyd petition has already surpassed 5,000 signatures and the group is hosting a Valentine’s Day “Mall Crawl” event to show love for Lloyd Center on Feb. 14.
The virtual Feb. 5 design commission hearing includes time for public testimony.
“What’s happened at the mall has been remarkable, and we were happy to see that happen,” Kilbane says. “But it’s now time for the next thing.”
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