City Advisory Groups Recommend PSU Site

After a year of rigorous study, two independent advisory groups – Mayor Keith Wilson’s Ex-Officio Table and the City of Portland’s Future of Large-Scale Performing Arts Steering Committee – delivered similar advice to the Mayor and City Council: Portland State is the right home for the region’s next great performing arts venue, and the time to move is now. Together with a reimagined Keller Auditorium, the Center can anchor a new performing arts and education district in the heart of downtown.

Two city-commissioned studies drove the recommendations. A market feasibility study confirmed Portland needs a single, purpose-built Broadway venue – and that PSU is the site to build it. An economic impact analysis by Hunden Partners projects the Broadway-capable venue at the Center will generate approximately $98.2 million in total annual economic impact, supporting 378 permanent jobs, $17.9 million in annual earnings and $1.8 million in lodging taxes. It will also avoid the $50 million per year in negative economic impact from a closure of the Keller Auditorium during reconstruction.

“We are grateful for these recommendations and want to thank the City for a robust and collaborative process,” said Sarah Schwarz, president of the Portland State University Foundation. “Portland State comes to this conversation from a place of mission and service. As Portland’s urban university, we are here to serve students and to serve this city. At this critical moment, we are marshaling our development expertise and funding partnerships to help the City of Portland rejuvenate downtown and support our region’s entire arts, culture and creative ecosystem. Portland and Portland State rise together – and it is time to rise.”

The university has already secured significant state funding, including a priority commitment from Governor Tina Kotek’s 2025 budget, along with pre-campaign philanthropic gifts that put approximately a quarter of the total estimated project funding in hand already. That momentum, combined with 4.25 acres of no-cost PSU-owned land and a track record of $1 billion in campus development over 12 years, makes PSU a uniquely strong partner to deliver this project on time and on budget.

“This proposed Performing Arts + Culture Center will be an engine of Portland’s arts economy, ” Governor Kotek said. “This state-of-the-art performance destination will connect communities throughout our state and nurture future artists. Downtown Portland is on the rise, and this is an exciting next step. ”

The Performing Arts + Culture Center is not just a new theater. Built on the largest developable parcel in downtown Portland, it will be the city’s next architectural landmark, featuring soaring spaces and mass timber construction. Its Broadway theater will be built to tomorrow’s production standards, ensuring the blockbuster shows of the future always come to Oregon. PSU-owned community spaces will give the region’s small and diverse arts organizations a permanent home and a new center of gravity. Combined attendance is estimated at 640,000 a year.

The next step is for the Mayor to present his recommendation to City Council for approval. From there, PSU is asking the City to move quickly to establish a Technical Advisory Committee to define project costs, complete a capital stack analysis and develop a funding timeline. As long as the project stays on track, the Performing Arts + Culture Center is targeted to open in 2030.