Portland developers say Live Nation proposal is a 'state-of-the-art' music venue

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – As Portland leaders consider proposals for new and renovated performing arts venues in different parts of the city, many are left asking: What kind of venue does the city really need?

Well, it depends on who you ask. Over the past few months, Portland has become the center of several big proposals for new concert and performance venues.

“Just saying, ‘Great. We're going to build a venue. Oh, we're going to build another venue. We're going-’ I think thinking strategically and holistically about ‘What does Portland want to be from a performance perspective?’ is a piece that's lacking,” Music Portland executive director Meara McLoughlin said.

Among these proposals is a city-mandated compromise in the works between the Halprin Landscape Conservancy, which wants to renovate the historic Keller Auditorium, and Portland State University, which wants to build a brand new venue on its campus a few blocks away.

Local concert promoter Monqui Presents also has a proposal for a 4,200-seat concert venue at Lloyd Center in the old Nordstrom space.

Meanwhile, national concert juggernaut Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, wants to build a new 3,500-seat venue on land owned by the city's development arm, Prosper Portland, within the city’s inner east side just north of the Hawthorne Bridge.

Many local musicians are concerned about Live Nation’s migration into Portland as the company faces a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly killing competition.

“They actively predate (sic) on local independent businesses. They close local venues. They put local artists into exclusivity contracts,” said Jamie Dunphy, a board member with Music Portland and a candidate for City Council. “And in every major city that they've [bought] into in the last decade, the independent music industry suffers.”

This week’s segment of Eye on Northwest Politics was joined by the developers in charge of the proposed Live Nation site: Beam Construction Co-Founder Jonathan Malsin and Andrew Colas of the Colas Development Group.

Malsin and Colas recognize that Portland already has a lot of indoor and outdoor concert venues, but said many residents and city leaders agree it needs something bigger.

“We've been working with Live Nation for two years to develop a really exciting venue program,” Malsin said. “Live Nation has deep experience booking acts and talent in the city of Portland. They have a local presence, and they have a great track record. Their commitment to local development firms is really powerful and allows us to move a catalytic project forward.”

Although the Monqui proposal at the Lloyd Center is similar to that of Live Nation’s, Colas said Live Nation is expected to have “the most state-of-the-art music venue of this size of its class in the state of Oregon.”

“There’s nothing like it in this region,” Colas said. “What it’s going to do, it’s going to bring acts — both local, international and throughout the United States – to this region, and people are going to be able to go there and enjoy music.”

The venue’s development depends on the approval of Portland City Council, which is being challenged by Music Portland, but Colas said the team remains optimistic.

“We’re confident that we have done everything that we need to do to get this project approved,” Colas said. “We’ll look forward to presenting to the Portland City Council and, hopefully, getting into the next step of developing this project.”

Watch the full interview in the video above.