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Press Release | October 9, 2026
Portland Central City Roundtable Tracks Progress, Compares Notes with Seattle and Denver
Mayor Keith Wilson convened the fifth meeting of the Central City
Roundtable on Friday, October 2, bringing Portland leaders together with downtown association
leaders from other major U.S. cities to compare strategies for economic vitality.
The meeting followed Downtown Vitality: What Does Success Look Like?, a public conversation the previous day at the Portland Art Museum organized by Design Portland as a complement to the Mayor's Roundtable. The event featured Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association; Kourtny Garrett, President and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership; and Prema Katari Gupta, President and CEO of Philadelphia's Center City District, who came to Portland to share lessons from their cities' downtown revitalization efforts.
Across the cities, leaders described similar bright spots: stronger visitor activity, growing residential populations, and the increasing importance of arts, sports, food and entertainment in bringing people downtown. They also share a continuing challenge around office vacancies as changing work patterns reshape the traditional role of central business districts.
City bureau leaders reported back on how they are aligning their work here in Portland with Roundtable recommendations, with a strong emphasis on a more responsive, problem-solving "culture of yes." Encouraging examples included efforts to streamline and expand permitting options, better coordinate major events, and empower staff to use common sense and good judgment to help projects move faster and reduce unnecessary costs. The Mayor shared that the City's new storefront activation program demonstrated strong demand, becoming oversubscribed within two weeks of launch and creating a waiting list for additional businesses seeking support.
Portland is seeing encouraging movement on that front, with Central City office vacancy declining for two consecutive quarters. Updated data on the Roundtable's key performance indicators is now live on the Central City Roundtable website.
Scholes and Garrett continued the conversation with Roundtable members Friday. Scholes emphasized the importance of "getting the streets safe and healthy for everyone" and tight alignment between public and private leadership. He also pointed to Seattle's concentration of arts, sports and new infrastructure as important contributors to its recovery.
Garrett also highlighted the role of sports, arts and entertainment in Denver's economic strategy and the importance of "generating the pride in our business community and our public sector to say our cities are amazing."
Both visiting leaders emphasized the value of more focused and coordinated public-private leadership around downtown revitalization. They encouraged Portland to align the many organizations already working on Central City issues to concentrate resources and capacity rather than spreading them across disconnected efforts.
A report from the Roundtable's arts, culture and culinary work group reinforced the economic role of Portland's restaurants and arts organizations in bringing people downtown, supporting surrounding businesses and making neighborhoods attractive places to live. Recommendations included creating more clearly defined and visible arts districts, better connecting cultural activity on both sides of the river, making it easier to produce events and activations in public spaces, and more consistently promoting arts and culture as part of Portland's economic identity.
Wilson said Portland is increasingly ready to take that confidence on the road. He plans to travel to San Francisco to meet directly with major companies and recruit new employers and investment to Portland, making the case that the city offers the best value on the West Coast.
"I believe in the product," Wilson said. "Now it's time to go sell it."
The meeting also highlighted major investments and activity already underway throughout the Central City, including the international design competition for Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the opening of Portland State University's new Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design building, and progress on the James Beard Public Market.
The Roundtable will continue working with City leaders to move priority recommendations toward implementation.
Press Release | August 11, 2026
Central City Roundtable Signs Letter Supporting Moda Center Renovation
Mayor Keith Wilson's Central City Roundtable today signed a letter urging the Portland City Council to support renovation of the Moda Center, calling the arena an essential cultural and economic asset for Portland's Central City.
The letter emphasizes the Moda Center's importance as the home of the Portland Trail Blazers and as a destination for concerts, sporting events and civic gatherings. These events bring visitors downtown and support nearby restaurants, hotels and small businesses.
"A modern, competitive arena signals that Portland remains a destination for major events, touring artists and regional investment — not a city that gets passed over," the letter states.
The meeting came during a summer of significant activity across the Central City.
The Waterfront Blues Festival brought nearly 25,000 attendees to Tom McCall Waterfront Park and downtown, while Portland Pride and a Chris Stapleton concert at Providence Park brought tens of thousands more. The PDX Live concert series at Pioneer Courthouse Square features 14 national touring acts and is expected to generate at least $3.5 million in downtown economic activity.
Darcelle XV Plaza opened in June, transforming the former O'Bryant Square site into a new public space with a performance stage, shaded seating, a dog off-leash area and ongoing programming.
Taken together, this increased activity shows that the Central City is turning a corner. Downtown office vacancy declined for the second consecutive quarter, according to the Portland Business Journal, while recent long-term lease commitments point to growing employer confidence. At the same time, larger investments are moving forward, including Portland State University's plans for a new performing arts and culture center backed by more than $70 million in private investment and the City's international design competition to reimagine Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
The Roundtable cautioned that even with these positive signs, many challenges remain. Private investment is reluctant to return to the Central City, the tax structure incentivizes local companies and workers to locate elsewhere in the region, and consumer confidence is sluggish.
The Roundtable also finalized four measures it will use to track Central City progress through 2030: office leasing activity, new housing units permitted, ground-floor activation and foot traffic recovery. The Roundtable will track these key performance indicators and provide ongoing updates.
More information about the indicators, the Central City Roundtable, and its membership is available at pdxcentralcityroundtable.com.
Press Release | May 1, 2026
More Workers, More Activity: New Signs of Momentum in Portland’s Central City
Portland, OR — The Mayor’s Central City Roundtable convened today for its second meeting amid signals pointing to increased workplace activity and renewed investment across Portland’s Central City.
In recent weeks, several major employers and institutions have taken steps to expand or reestablish their presence in the Central City:
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Last week, OnPoint Community Credit Union held an open house to celebrate its new 17,000-square-feet brand in downtown Portland at SW Broadway and Washington.
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Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon signed a long-term lease for its headquarters at 200 SW Market St, and expanded from approximately 60,000 to 100,000 square feet.
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Accounting firm Geffen Mesher & Co. signed a long term lease in the same building for 30,000 square feet.
These announcements add to the momentum created by other recent moves, including:
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UpStart Collection’s decision to consolidate its coworking locations by taking over the 5th floor of the “Big Pink” U.S. Bank building.
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Portland State University’s decision in the fall of 2025 to increase its in-person presence, bringing more students, faculty, and staff into the Central City.
“OnPoint is proud to expand service to consumer members while providing resources dedicated to over 50,000 area businesses,” said OnPoint CEO, and Central City Roundtable member Rob Stuart. “This decision underscores our continued investment in the vitality and future of Portland’s Central City.”
These developments come alongside a broader wave of Central City activity highlighted in the Mayor’s State of the City speech on April 17, such as:
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The return of Nike’s flagship store. With a presence in downtown since 1990, the newly renovated Nike Portland store opened as an elevated sport, community and culture hub.
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Uniqlo’s decision to open a new Central City retail location across from Pioneer Courthouse Square.
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New ownership and reinvestment in major Central City office buildings, including Big Pink and the Black Box building.
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The relocation of National University of Natural Medicine to South Downtown.
Together, these actions point to early momentum across the Roundtable’s key indicators, including increased office activity, more active storefronts, and more people out and about in the Central City at all times of day.
“We are seeing more workers returning, more investment, and more activity,” said Mayor Keith Wilson. “Activation leads to more activation. That’s why my budget proposes adding $800,000 to existing Prosper Portland resources for retail, grocery stores, and restaurants to make storefront investments citywide with a focus on the Central City.”
The Mayor convened the second meeting of the Central City Roundtable on May 1, in which the members agreed on shared key performance indicators of progress and a plan for working groups around core areas of focus. The Roundtable brings together leaders from business, education, real estate, and the nonprofit sector to stay aligned around near-term actions and track visible progress over time.
“We are focused on what people can see and feel,” Wilson added. “More activity, more workers, and more reasons to be in the Central City. We’re creating results through hard work and determination.”
The Roundtable will continue to meet regularly and share updates on the website as progress continues.
Press Release | February 24th, 2026
Mayor Keith Wilson to Launch Central City Roundtable on March 6
PORTLAND, Ore. — Mayor Keith Wilson today announced the launch of the Central City Roundtable, a cross-sector leadership group that will align public, private, and community partners to accelerate progress in Portland’s Central City spanning both sides of the Willamette River.
The Roundtable, which will hold its first meeting on March 6, is intended to advance recommendations made in the All In On Portland’s Central City roadmap developed by the Governor’s Central City Task Force. The group will build on the Mayor’s existing initiatives to improve public safety and end unsheltered homelessness, and includes leaders from business, real estate, arts and culture, education, philanthropy, and community institutions.
“Portland has a downtown like no other, and the latest foot traffic statistics prove what we all know—the energy is coming back,” said Mayor Wilson. “We're assembling a cross-sector team of senior leaders capable of transforming that spark into an innovative, ambitious, sustainable civic revitalization. We have all the ingredients we need to attract opportunity and supercharge the kind of economic activity that lifts our entire community.”
The Central City Roundtable will be co-chaired by Mayor Wilson and Nolan Lienhart, Director of Planning and Urban Design at ZGF Architects. Lienhart brings extensive experience in placemaking and civic collaboration and will help guide the Roundtable’s work on activation and long-term competitiveness.
“We’re at a pivotal moment,” said Lienhart. “A vibrant Central City benefits the entire city, region, and state. We can build on the momentum of recent successes, such as the Rothko Pavilion at the Portland Art Museum and the James Beard Market, which links Portland’s food scene to Oregon-grown products. We also have visionary master-planning developments, like Broadway Corridor and those led by Albina Vision Trust and OMSI, that have the potential to redefine Portland’s Central City for a generation. But realizing that potential will take more than capital investment. It will take creativity, shared accountability, and a willingness to work across traditional boundaries.”
The Central City Roundtable will help identify and remove barriers and align capital to accelerate economic opportunities. In addition to project development and finance, the Roundtable will focus on reimagining and reigniting downtown for new patterns of work, culture, and community life. The group will track progress on a public dashboard that will be shared later this spring.
Wilson emphasized that Central City recovery depends on strong public-private partnerships and shared accountability.
“Government cannot do this alone,” he said. “That’s why I’m asking for guidance and partnership from leaders in all sectors. Together, we can restore Portland as the heart of the region, and as a nationally competitive hub for innovation and opportunity.”
More information about the Central City Roundtable and its membership is available at pdxcentralcityroundtable.com.