Authorize grant agreements with KREF Lloyd Center Owner LLC and Portland State University for conceptual design and feasibility analysis for a new performing arts facility site not to exceed $100,000

After the Keller Auditorium was added to the City’s list of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings in 2016, work began to investigate the seismic stability of the facility. In March 2020, the Keller Seismic Analysis Summary Report was completed, which outlined the structural deficiencies of the Keller and laid out potential options to consider moving forward: Limited building renovation addressing seismic upgrades; Major building renovation including new additions; Building a new facility on the existing site or an alternative site. In 2017, a private design competition was held to explore what a large-scale renovation might look like. In 2022, neighboring property owners and design professionals joined the Halprin Landscape Conservancy to further develop a design concept for the space. Halprin’s private funding was matched by joint public funding from both the City and Metro. In 2023, Halprin came up with a large-scale renovation design for the existing facility. During this period, the City began a tangential effort to explore what building a new facility might look like on an alternate site. Eight sites were submitted by proposers to host a new performing arts facility across Portland. After a rigorous evaluation process, two sites were selected to explore design concepts: Lloyd Center and Portland State University. Over the next five months, with $50,000 grant agreements from the City’s Spectator Fund, Lloyd Center and Portland State University will each work with their own designers and architects to develop more detailed designs that test the feasibility of their sites. The City’s Project Management Team will monitor milestones for each design team to meet, so that two more complete designs will be presented to City Council by the end of May 2024, showcasing legitimate options for a new performing arts facility and site. Once the City has these two new facility site designs, it can add them to the on-site renovation option, and work with equity personnel across the City and Metro to spend a month gathering public feedback on all three design ideas, to then bring back to City Council by the end of July 2024, to elicit feedback for how to move forward.

The City Spectator Venues and Visitor Activities Fund will provide two grant agreements each totaling $50,000: one to Lloyd Center and one to Portland State University for their design work for their sites. The City Spectator Venues and Visitor Activities Fund will pay for a facilitator to oversee conversations between Lloyd Center and Portland State University and the current users of the Keller Auditorium. Metro will pay for a universal cost analysis, that examines both the Halprin’s renovation design of the existing Keller, Lloyd Center’s new design for a facility on their site and Portland State University’s new design for a facility on their site. Both the City and Metro will each contribute Equity and Inclusion staff members time to create a plan for outreach and engagement efforts on all three designs during the month of June 2024.

The City will post periodic project updates to the Spectator Venues Program website as well as to the City website when Lloyd Center and Portland State University present their design concepts to City Council. Both Lloyd Center and Portland State University will likely aim to keep the public updated on their progress as they work toward achieving feasible designs for their project sites. For the month of June 2024, the City expects to conduct robust outreach to the community to gather interest/feedback on all three designs through (but not limited to): surveys, mailers, emails, and online open houses. Then, in July 2024, the City expects to share the results of the engagement efforts with the City Council, to help inform a direction moving forward.