In our first UDP presentation of the year, Portland State University will present two exciting projects that have the potential to help lead the renaissance of downtown Portland while reshaping the campus and south downtown for the next 50 years.

PSU is partnering with the city of Portland to build a new performing arts and culture center on the current home of the University Place Hotel at SW 4th and Lincoln. This $600+ million project will include a 2400 to 3000 seat broadway capable theater owned by the city of Portland as well as a 1,200 seat theater and associated academic space owned by PSU. The project is also envisioned to include a 150 key hotel and conference center and space for a performing arts organization.

In addition to this exciting project, PSU recently completed an international design competition for Placemaking. This unique competition brought teams from across the US and Internationally to the PSU campus to develop Placemaking strategies and plans to help transform the PSU campus while also providing ideas that can be used throughout downtown. 

Speaker

Jason Franklin, AICP is Associate Vice President for Planning, Construction and Real Estate at Portland State University. He oversees the physical campus, including facilities, capital projects, planning, sustainability, parking, conference and events and the student union. He is currently overseeing a major science building renovation and a new mass timber building for Art + Design.

Jason received his master’s degree in urban and regional planning from PSU and his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Minnesota.