Do you think Pioneer Place is starting to show its age? (Portland: hair salon, real estate)

[spicymeatball]

It dawned on me that Pioneer Place, the "new" mall downtown, was actually built in the late 80s and opened in 1990! So really it's about a quarter century old, at least the first half of it that was built.

I went there for the first time in 2007 and it still felt like a new mall but I went there again recently and realized how "80s" it looks and feels. It doesn't seem like it's very popular either, it's never empty but I never see large numbers of people there either.

[eric351982]

It does looks pretty 80's. I love Pioneer Place though. It's so nice to have a place to walk around during the gloomy rain.

[eric351982]

Come to think of it though, I think Pioneer Square looks very 80's.

[scottinpdx]

Very 80's feel, but at least there are people in there. Some malls are like ghost towns now-a-days.

[urbanlife78]

The mall is probably due for a renovation to upgrade the interior of it. Though I am happy they did something most downtown malls don't do, which is keep with the city grid rather than block off several streets with a big mall.

[soldierhobo]

Malls in general are very 80's....

[classicanne]

Originally Posted by soldierhobo

Malls in general are very 80's....

Agreed; I don't care for malls at all, prefer small shop/boutique shopping.

[Śebb]

Originally Posted by soldierhobo

Malls in general are very 80's....

lol.


North American 'downtowns' are generally 80's too; a lot of Portland's, Seattle's, and Van BC's downtowns are rotting relics from the 80s/90s building boom. I see more new buildings and modern infrastructure in Guangdong than in the PNW.

A big retail renovation of downtown would be huge for Portland business in my opinion.

[Zaba]

Originally Posted by Śebb

lol.


North American 'downtowns' are generally 80's too; a lot of Portland's, Seattle's, and Van BC's downtowns are rotting relics from the 80s/90s building boom. I see more new buildings and modern infrastructure in Guangdong than in the PNW.

A big retail renovation of downtown would be huge for Portland business in my opinion.

The problem is, retail in general is being killed by the internet. Its been dying a slow death for 20 years now.
As is usual, people had the 'idea' right in the late 1990's when they got so excited investing in such a disruptive technology, they just underestimated how long it would take for the full effect of eCommerce to start making an actual difference. We're finally starting to see it.

Let there be no doubt. The 'commercial real estate' world gets a lot smaller when its limited to service industry renters and stuff too big to ship. Add in the effect of big box stores, we're still HUGELY over capacity as far as commercial real estate goes. There aren't enough hair salons, pawn shops, convenience stores, payday advance lenders, coffee shops and "We Buy Gold" places to soak up the difference.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Zaba

The problem is, retail in general is being killed by the internet. Its been dying a slow death for 20 years now.
As is usual, people had the 'idea' right in the late 1990's when they got so excited investing in such a disruptive technology, they just underestimated how long it would take for the full effect of eCommerce to start making an actual difference. We're finally starting to see it.

Let there be no doubt. The 'commercial real estate' world gets a lot smaller when its limited to service industry renters and stuff too big to ship. Add in the effect of big box stores, we're still HUGELY over capacity as far as commercial real estate goes. There aren't enough hair salons, pawn shops, convenience stores, payday advance lenders, coffee shops and "We Buy Gold" places to soak up the difference.

Are you talking about malls in general or Pioneer Place specifically?