About the Center

Building a Big Vision

A new landmark

With soaring spaces and mass timber construction, the Performing Arts + Culture Center will be Portland’s next point of pride. Its Broadway-capable theater will be built with state-of-the-art stage capabilities and lobby amenities, ensuring tomorrow’s most spectacular shows will always come to Oregon – while guaranteeing a grand experience for patrons and presenters alike.

Strengthening the arts ecosystem

In addition to the Broadway-capable theater, the Center will include a smaller community theater, classrooms, and two flexible rehearsal/performance spaces with the technical capabilities to support intimate theatrical productions. These accessible spaces will be owned by Portland State University to benefit Oregon’s entire arts ecosystem, giving our region’s small and diverse cultural organizations, struggling since COVID, a new center of gravity and community.

A cultural anchor

The Performing Arts + Culture Center will supercharge downtown’s arts corridor, amplifying connections to PSU and to Portland's most beloved cultural venues, including the Keller Auditorium site, to which the Center will be linked by a historic pedestrian parkway that will come alive in new ways. The Center also has room to house one flagship Portland arts organization and to serve as an arts incubator for emerging arts organizations.

Direct economic impact

The Performing Arts + Culture Center development will create an estimated 400 permanent jobs and 2,000 construction jobs and open up possibilities for additional economic activity in the district. It will activate seven blocks of readily developable proximate property with spillover investment potential of around $1 billion beyond the initial Center construction.

Supporting students and workers

The PSU-owned spaces of the Performing Arts + Culture Center will support and expand the university’s signature performing arts programs, including its internationally recognized choir, and make possible unique training programs to meet the region’s creative workforce needs. It will also become an important venue for Oregon’s K–12 students to experience and participate in the performing arts.

Year-round downtown activity

Conservative estimates for the Performing Arts + Culture Center’s multiple theaters add up to attendance of around 640,000 a year. Adding hotel, conference and school activity to that means steady, year-round economic, cultural and educational benefits for downtown.

Arts and conference tourism opportunity

Arts and culture is an economic engine. According to Oregon Business, up to 40% of arts patrons come from 60 or more miles away. They tend to stay longer and spend more than other visitors. The Center’s 4.25 acre campus provides ample space for a private equity partner to develop a conference center and 150-key hotel to significantly expand downtown’s large-event calendar. A number of hospitality partners are already interested in developing the hotel and conference center, citing the Center’s nationally unique elements, the market need for additional conference space downtown, and the long-term viability of the Portland market.

Perfect timing

Constructing the Performing Arts + Culture Center before the Keller Auditorium undergoes its multi-year reconstruction means Broadway shows can go on in Portland without painful economic or cultural losses to our region. An analysis commissioned by the City of Portland and Metro found that a full closure of the Keller would have a significant negative impact on the regional economy — a nearly $50 million loss per year. 

Timeline

• 2024: Concept planning
• 2025–27: State bonding + philanthropy
• 2026–27: Architectural design + hotel developer commitment
• 2028–30: Construction
• 2030: Opening night