Gerding/Edlen to Announce Six Tenants for 'Brewery Blocks' Within 60 Days

Local real estate sources are confirming this morning that The Art Institute of Portland and Whole Foods Market may already have signed on for space in the project, which will include 200,000 sf of retail, 700,000 sf of office, 200,000 sf of housing and 700,000 sf of underground parking. Other tenants expected to close deals for space in the near future are outdoor recreation retailer REI, Everyday Music, P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. and the home décor store Z Gallery. Gerding/Edlen's Mark Edlen tells GlobeSt he's not verifying anything but "negotiations with lots of tenants" at this time because the company is planning "to batch up about six (new tenants) at the same time" within the next 60 days or so.

As part of the redevelopment, the former Blitz brewhouse headquarters still standing along Burnside and the old Armory on the north side of Powell's are being renovated and expanded as commercial office space. On the northern side of the 1200 block of Burnside, opposite Ringler's Annex, where Whole Foods Market will reportedly go, is planned for ground–floor retail and two floors of office. That development is slated for completion by October.

The Art Institute reportedly will occupy around 57,000-sf in a 270,000-sf retail-office-housing development that will rise on the block west of the Armor and north of the brewhouse. All of the parking for Gerding/Edlen's massive redevelopment will be under this block.