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An architecture firm is pondering a project at the Lloyd Center Mall.
Records at the Portland Bureau of Development Services show that a developer is mulling a plan to demolish the section of the mall that housed Nordstrom and build a two-story “multipurpose event structure.”
Records at BDS didn’t disclose the developer who applied for “early assistance” on Jan. 19, but a bureau spokesman said the applicant is Michael Reis with Works Progress Architecture, a “100% woman-owned and a majority woman-staffed studio,” with offices in Los Angeles and Portland, according to its website.
Reis, the operations director at Works Progress, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
Developers often use the early assistance program to learn what would be involved in a project before undergoing land use review or seeking building permits.
An executive at Urban Renaissance, part owner of the mall, declined to comment on the matter.
Nordstrom closed its Lloyd Center store in 2015 after 55 years in business there.
In September, Urban Renaissance made public its plan to revitalize the 29-acre site with as many as 5,000 units of housing, restaurants, greenspaces and—if the market for office space revives—a corporate office campus.
Any venue at Lloyd Center might compete with another proposed space along the east bank of the Willamette River. Live Nation, the concert behemoth, is considering a 4,000-seat music venue there.