Southeast 82nd Avenue and Southeast Holgate Boulevard
Portland, Oregon
Portland's second shopping mall was built on a 28-acre plot, located 4.9 miles southeast of the center city. The site, in PDX's Lents community, contained the A.V. Folkman farm. It was acquired by the Pacific Coast League Portland Beavers baseball team in 1945, with plans for an eventual stadium.
The stadium plan never panned out. The property was acquired by the US National Bank in 1955. They retained a 2-acre plot and sold the remainder of the property to Fligelman & Meltzer, a joint venture of three California-based developers. Robert J. Meyer & Associates, of Los Angeles, were hired to design a single-level, open-air mall. Ground was broken on October 20, 1959.
Meanwhile, US National Bank had built a branch office on their property which opened for business on December 15, 1956. The first three stores in the adjacent shopping mall opened their doors on September 15, 1960. These were a 2-level (90,000 square foot), Portland-based Lipman & Wolfe, Fabric House and Nordstrom's Shoes.
On October 27, 1960, the 5 million dollar EASTPORT PLAZA was officially dedicated. There were twenty-two operational stores and approximately 286,000 leasable square feet. When fully-leased the complex contained forty tenant spaces. J.C. Penney and a J.J. Newberry 5 & 10 were junior anchors, with both stores having basement sales floors.
Charter EASTPORT PLAZA tenants included Fabric House, Pay 'n Save Drug, Leeds Qualicraft Shoes, Lerner Shops and an S & H Green Stamps Redemption Center. A bell carillon at the mall played music throughout the day.
Shopping malls in the immediate vicinity were LLOYD CENTER (1960) {4.4 miles northwest, in Portland} and MALL 205 (1970) {1.5 miles northeast, also in Portland}.
EASTPORT PLAZA was renovated in the late 1970s. The existing shopping concourse was enclosed and climate-controlled. A 91,000 square foot North Wing was built; this concourse also being fully-enclosed. The addition was anchored by a 1-level (55,100 square foot), Wilsonville, Oregon-based G.I Joe's Sports & Automotive. This store was inaugurated in March 1979.
The mall renovation was completed in October 1979. At this time, EASTPORT PLAZA housed approximately 376,800 leasable square feet. Lipman & Wolfe (now known as simply Lipmans) had been shuttered in the summer of 1979. The building was leased by Hayward, California-based Mervyn's, who opened their EASTPORT PLAZA store on October 3, 1979.
A two-tube waterslide, known as the Hydrotube, was installed near the G.I. Joe's mall entrance. It opened for business on September 21, 1982. The attraction was shut down in the mid-1980s due to liability issues.
EASTPORT PLAZA began to decline after the 1981 completion of CLACKAMAS TOWN CENTER {3.6 miles south, in Clackamas}. The older mall held on for some years, but the 1986 defections of Mervyn's, J.C. Penney and Albertsons were nails driven in a proverbial coffin. J.J. Newberry bailed out in the early 1990s, leaving only G.I. Joe's and eleven inline stores in business...one of these being Tower Records. A redevelopment was announced in April 1995. The mall was demolished in the following year, leaving G.I. Joe's and two small peripheral structures standing.
A power center was built, anchored by the existing G.I. Joe's. A 1-level (137,000 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter was dedicated on October 29, 1997. The Century 16 Eastport Plaza showed first features on November 12, 1998. EASTPORT PLAZA now encompassed approximately 406,600 leasable square feet and housed thirty-five stores and services.
G.I. Joe's (now promoted as simply "Joe's") closed in March 2005. Its space was divided between a (35,000 square foot) Jo-Ann Fabrics Superstore and (20,600 square foot) Ross Dress For Less. The megaplex cinema became a Cinemark venue in 2006. Albertsons pulled out of the shopping complex (again) in September 2006. LA Fitness assumed the store space and opened in August 2008.
WalMart expanded their EASTPORT store by 22,000 square feet, with its grand re-opening being held on November 14, 2012. This store went dark on March 24, 2023. The building was acquired by the Portland-based Hong Phat Group in in January 2024. They opened a Hong Phat Superstore Asian supermarket on July 26, 2024. The Hong Phat Group bought the remainder of EASTPORT PLAZA in December 2024.
Sources:
The Eugene Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon)
The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)
"Dual Anchor Shopping Centers 1952-1965" / Richard Longstreth
http://portlandism.blogspot.com / "Slip Slidin' Away..."
http://eastportplaza.blogspot.com / "Eastport Plaza History Page" / Jeff
http://eastportplaza.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.kgw.com
