Skip to main content
Lents nightclub The New Copper Penny may not be spent.
The family that owns the infamous nightclub at Southeast 92nd Avenue and Foster Road has applied to open yet another huge sports bar, pool hall, and restaurant—right across the street, at 9213 SE Foster Road.
This comes immediately following news that the 40-year-old, infamous nightclub had sold and would become an apartment complex.
The deal came through a developer, Palindrome Communities, that had received a sizable PDC loan to develop the site.
"We're very pleased," PDC spokeswoman Ann Mangan told WW."It's a great outcome for Lents. It's a great piece of the big picture in terms of jump-starting development."
Over its 40 years, the New Copper Penny has towered over Lents nightlife, for good and bad—hosting both weddings and parking-lot shootings, karaoke and burlesque nights and enough visits from authorities it was cited by the OLCC for "a history of serious and persistent problems."
The Portland Development Commission spent years trying to convince its owner, Theodisius "Saki" Tzantarmas, to sell to the city in order to allow a new, New Seasons-centric vision of Lents to take hold.
Tzantarmas, for his part, wanted $5.5 million to step aside.
Now, after the sale of the New Copper Penny, it appears that the Tzantarmas family has no intention of leaving Lents without access to its own particular brand of Greek family entertainment.
Saki Tzantamas' proposed new bar, at 9213 SE Foster Road, is on property already owned by the Tzantarmas family. It would comprise 3,000 square feet, with seating for 70. The bar would be open to all ages in the early day, then host pool and video poker until 2 am every night, along with karaoke nights.
They may have plenty of customers—or complaining neighbors. The old New Copper Penny is slated to become a mixed-use building with ground-floor retail, 126 affordable apartments, and 19 market-rate apartments. The PDC loaned $8.1 million to the developers to construct it.
The Tzantarmas family has not responded to requests for comment.
"Our goal is to have a family friendly atmosphere for young and old to have fun while being respectful and an asset to the community," reads the Tzantarmas' application for their new bar. "Greek/American restaurant trying to bring a taste of the Greek culture to Portland."
Willamette Week