Skip to main content
A big real estate investor is ending its six-year bet on retail in the Pearl District.
SITE Centers Corp., based in Beachwood, Ohio, is selling “The Blocks,” 44 storefronts accounting for 95,430 square feet, according to an offering document obtained by WW. All of the spaces are in 10 residential buildings in the Pearl, including the Streetcar Lofts, the Pinnacle and Park Place.
SITE Centers, a real estate investment trust, bought the collection of spaces in late 2019, according to its website, calling the Pearl “one of the most desirable places to live on the West Coast.”
The neighborhood has changed since SITE’s purchase. Starbucks closed a store at Northwest 11th Avenue and Lovejoy Street in October 2022. REI closed it 20-year-old Pearl location, its only outlet within city limits, in February 2024.
More recently, Erath Winery closed its tasting room at 1439 NW Marshall St. late last month, the same week that the city of Portland said it would open a homeless shelter a block away.
“Strategically positioned in the heart of Portland’s vibrant Pearl District, The Blocks presents an irreplaceable collection of value-add urban retail assets,” the offering document says. “Due to its prime infill location and the complete absence of available land for new development, this unique portfolio would be impossible to replicate in today’s market.”
The sale is being handled by Newmark Pacific Retail Capital Markets.
John Cattonar, senior vice president of investments at SITE Centers, didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. SITE Centers didn’t return a message sent through the contact page on its website.
SITE Centers stock has fallen 40% so far this year. A real estate investment trust, or REIT, is a company that owns, manages or finances properties. REITs are required to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends, making them popular with investors seeking safer sources of income.
REIT shares have suffered this year as interest rates have remained high, making it more costly for the companies to borrow for property purchases.
