An Economic and Jobs Boon

The Performing Arts + Culture Center will create significant economic activity, generate thousands of jobs, and be the market signal Portland needs.

The Center’s 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 investment.

Conservative estimates for the Center’s multiple theaters add up to attendance of around 640,000 a year. According to Oregon Business, arts tourists are among the most valuable to our region. Up to 40% come from 60 or more miles away. They tend to stay longer and spend more than other visitors.

Adding hotel, conference and school activity to the performing arts patron traffic means steady, year-round economic activity downtown – particularly as Portland’s live performance calendar is winter peaking and summer slumping, while the conferencing calendar is the opposite. The combination creates predictable activity.

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. The Center’s conference spaces will be intentionally overbuilt relative to the number of planned hotel beds to create value for other downtown hotel operators.

Finally, timing the Keller’s reconstruction after the Performing Arts + Culture Center opens in 2030 avoids a costly multi-year closure of the Keller, which would have a nearly $50 million annual negative economic impact, according to City of Portland estimates.