Downtown Portland News

[maccoinnich]

McMenamins reveals a new hotel in big bet on downtown Portland



McMenamins is ready to talk about its new downtown Portland hotel.

The eclectic Northwest hospitality chain said Thursday it will repurpose the former Taft Home low-income residences into a new hotel. Taft Home had closed in 2021 after state officials ordered its operators to undertake a set of fixes, according to reporting in Willamette Week, and the operators chose to close the residence and sell instead.

McMenamins acquired the property at 1321 S.W. Washington St. in 2024 for $1.5 million. The property is near McMenamins’ Crystal Ballroom and Crystal Hotel, occupying a few adjacent blocks the chain refers to as “rock ‘n’ roll row.” The company last year filed for a permit to renovate the former Taft Home’s second through fourth floors but at the time declined to comment on its plans.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[downtownpdx]

Glad Cassidy’s is staying, nice old school restaurant. McMenamins may not have the greatest service/food around but they are great at reviving historic buildings and the surrounding neighborhoods by extension.

[dizflip]

How dare you say that about their cajun tots

[maccoinnich]

Downtown Portland's Merchant Bank Building sells for lower than asking price



A downtown Portland building that formerly housed the Greek Cusina restaurant has sold for below its asking price and millions less than its last sale price.

Restauranteur Gilbert Leon purchased the Merchant Bank Building for $1.2 million in early March, according to public records. That’s a 38% discount from its $1.95 million asking price and an 80% discount from the price it was last purchased for in 2019.

The news was first reported by Willamette Week.

Leon is known for multiple bar and restaurant concepts around Portland, including Silk Road, Lulu and Pretty Ugly.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

This is some good news, good to see some local business owners getting buildings like this at a value because it is more likely that he will use this building to benefit downtown.

[downtownpdx]

There was supposed to be a jazz club/speakeasy opening on the corner of 4th/Washington, but I read they fell behind on property taxes or something. Would be nice to finally see some life breathed into that corner after some 15 years. Seems like it’s been under construction this whole time.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by Rob Nob

The family did start developing projects on their parking lots a decade or so ago. I worked on one lot they started developing for housing, but suddenly sold the property to another developer who was going to build a hotel. Then COVID, so it's still a parking lot today.

Demolition of this building started this week.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Demolition of this building started this week.

Which building?

[maccoinnich]

The Governor Building:

Originally Posted by pdxsg34

Goodman family-owned Governer Building at SW 2nd & Harvey Milk (404-418 SW 2nd Ave) recently had a demolition permit issued. This makes the blocks bound by 2nd, Harvey Milk, Alder and Naito one big parking lot with off ramps.

KPTV had an article in late '24 on the tenents who were told to leave without being given a reason why. I guess this is why. I hope some sort of development occurs on this block, and the adjacent ones. Otherwise, it looks like someone punched a giant hole in the west side of the river.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

The Governor Building:

Correct. Sorry, tried to reply to the conversation on that building, I prob should have just stated the name.

[urbanlife]

Sad to see the Governor Building being torn down for it to become nothing more than just a parking lot

[downtownpdx]

Yeah not fun to see that happening. Hopefully it’ll at least host a food cart pod in the near future..

[downtownpdx]

New light shed on Portland’s waterfront cherry blossoms

https://www.koin.com/entertainment-news/new-light-shed-on-portlands-waterfront-cherry-blossoms/

Screen Shot 2026-03-24 at 3.53.23 PM by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

New light has been brought to Portland’s waterfront cherry blossoms thanks to Hollywood Lights‘ “Ambush Lighting” program.

A section of Tom McCall Waterfront Park’s cherry blossoms was illuminated Monday night from sunset to 10:00 p.m. Hollywood Lights is behind the project, with bright pink spotlights on Portland’s favorite springtime flowers. The new “ambush lighting” Hollywood is providing is in collaboration with the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.
...

The lights will illuminate the shortly-lived cherry blossoms again on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, March 24 and March 25, from sunset to 10:00 p.m.

[maccoinnich]

Demolition begins on historic downtown Portland building



Demolition has begun on a historic downtown Portland building just over a year after tenants were asked to leave.

The Governor Building at 418 S.W. Second Ave. was approved for demolition earlier this year, according to a permit filed with the city’s permitting bureau. The permit, issued in early March, calls for a complete teardown of the existing building and basement.

The building has since been fenced off and signs of previous businesses have been removed as demolition begins starting on the south side of the building that formerly held up a billboard.

The building is owned by Downtown Development Group, which purchased the property in 2017 for $48,656, according to public records.

“As Portland continues its rebound, we have made the decision to focus on the next chapter for this prime full block development site, which is located at the gateway entrance to downtown at the base of the Morrison Bridge,” Matt Goodman, vice president of Downtown Development Group, said in an email. “We believe this property can and will contribute to Portland’s ongoing revitalization.”

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

[babs]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

Why remove a building if you don't have active redevelopment plans? Isn't that how we ended up with so many surface blocks in the 50s and 60s?

[downtownpdx]

It sucks to lose this. I would love to think the Goodman people have some amazing high rise planned… but that’s just not in the cards in 2026. These historic buildings, I’m guessing, are not full of the amenities needed today and perhaps it’s just not worth the investment needed in the current office market.

[DMH]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

It sucks to lose this. I would love to think the Goodman people have some amazing high rise planned… but that’s just not in the cards in 2026. These historic buildings, I’m guessing, are not full of the amenities needed today and perhaps it’s just not worth the investment needed in the current office market.

The historic Governor Building was an excellent candidate for a seismic retrofit and conversion to residential use. I am disappointed that the Goodmans did not start there with a Governor rehab followed by new development on the parking lots of the.remaining 3/4 block. The Governor Building reinforced the historic urban context of the block of historic buildings across SW 2nd Avenue. What a shame to lose it.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

I might actually think they have something planned by this statement, if they didn't also sit on many nearby empty lots that could have easily been developed in all the time the Goodman's have owned them.

The bought the building for only $48k in 2017? Peak Portland demand....is that a typo? That's like 2 zeroes less than I would expect, depending on how much of the lot was included. At that crazy low price maybe it needs millions in repairs and isn't worth it to them?

[AdamUrbanist]

I don’t see any evidence this block has near-term redevelopment potential regardless of the building valuation. My guess is this is more about minimizing carrying costs - avoiding maintenance, reducing taxes, and limiting liability and bad press (i.e. the Manashe's fentanyl market on 4th and Washington).

This is where land value taxes would make a difference.

I don’t doubt the Goodmans are invested in downtown revitalization, but they’re also responding to the incentives in front of them. We make it harder and more expensive than it needs to be to redevelop, and then on top of it the tax structure rewards holding land and, in some cases, tearing buildings down.

Pensylvania has a version of a land value tax and there's a lot of evidence it's reduced the number of demolitions in downtown areas.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

The bought the building for only $48k in 2017? Peak Portland demand....is that a typo? That's like 2 zeroes less than I would expect, depending on how much of the lot was included. At that crazy low price maybe it needs millions in repairs and isn't worth it to them?

It's not correct. Looking at the County tax records, a Goodman connected LLC bought the property for $1.5 million in 2006. The $48k is associated with a deed that was recorded in 2017 for some other purpose, and didn't result in a change in ownership.

Originally Posted by AdamUrbanist

I don’t see any evidence this block has near-term redevelopment potential regardless of the building valuation. My guess is this is more about minimizing carrying costs - avoiding maintenance, reducing taxes, and limiting liability and bad press (i.e. the Manashe's fentanyl market on 4th and Washington).

I think you're correct about the chance of a near-term redevelopment being low, and yet... I still don't get how demolition helps with carrying costs? The building had tenants as of 2024. The taxes owed on the property had already gone down enough that they're lower than what a lot of individuals pay on fancier condos or single family houses, and of course they don't go to zero after the building is demolished. All I can think is that there was some kind of issue with the building that would have required imminent and very expensive repairs in order to keep tenants in place?