Suddenly, Two Promoters Are Racing to Build a Portland Rock Venue

One of the reasons Portland punches above its weight as a city is its restaurant scene. Another is music. Both took a hit during the pandemic. Restaurants are reviving, but the lack of a modern rock venue that holds 4,000 people is holding back the music culture.

There are the Keller and the Schnitz, which hold around 3,000 each, but they can’t move the seats to accommodate shows where people like to stand, dance and spill beer. Any band that’s more raucous than Wilco can feel constrained in a place like that, never mind the fans.

Suddenly, things have changed. Last week, WW reported on week.com that local promoter Monqui Presents had struck a deal with Anschutz Entertainment Group to build a 4,250-capacity venue in the old Nordstom wing of Lloyd Center. The deal took six years to put together, Monqui co-founder Mike Quinn says, but now it’s ready to (rock and) roll.

Quinn’s entry means there’s a race to serve Portland’s music fans. Quinn hopes to get ahead of Live Nation Entertainment, which is working with local partners Beam Development and Colas Development Group to build a 3,500-capacity venue at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge. Add in a new Keller, which will be remodeled or rebuilt entirely (decision due this month), and Portland starts to look legit again.

Fans were thrilled to see Monqui’s announcement. Jamie Dunphy, a volunteer board member at MusicPortland, which lobbies for musicians, has been critical of the Live Nation proposal because of the company’s reputation in the industry.

In May, the U.S. Justice Department accused Live Nation of operating an illegal monopoly. The company represents hundreds of artists, controls almost 350 venues, and runs Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticket vendor, which gives it monopoly power, the DOJ charged in its lawsuit.

“I trust Mike Quinn,” Dunphy tells WW. “I don’t trust Live Nation.”

Unlike Live Nation, Monqui and Anschutz reached out to MusicPortland during the planning process, Dunphy says. Live Nation and its partners did not.

“They aren’t trying to sneak it through the backdoor like Live Nation did,” Dunphy says.

Jonathan Malsin, an owner of Beam Development, disputed Dunphy’s account.

“We have spoken with (Meara McLaughlin, executive director) at MusicPortland and have attempted to engage with Jamie as well (importantly, Jamie never responded to my last email to him 6/30/22),” Malsin said in an email. “To suggest we and Live Nation have never reached out to MusicPortland or other community partners is patently false.”

An email from Malsin to McLaughlin from April 2022, forwarded to WW, confirms his outreach. That June, Dunphy emailed a family member of Malsin’s, whom he knew, to express concern about Live Nation.

Outreach, or lack of it, aside, it’s not like Monqui and Anschutz are rebel fighters trying to take out the Death Star. Anschutz Entertainment is owned by Phil Anschutz, a Denver billionaire who made his fortune in oil before buying movie theaters and Major League Soccer teams.

“Our venue will fill a gap in Portland’s live music ecosystem, attracting more national tours to the city and boosting economic development in the Central Eastside,” Malsin said in a statement. “We believe it’s important a venue has a strong local connection which is why we’ve partnered with Live Nation because they have team members who live in Portland and have been investing in the music community here for many years.”

Both Colas Development and Beam are family owned, Colas president Andrew Colas said in a statement. He says he welcomes the competition.

“This partnership with Live Nation has been a long time in the making, and we are proud that our team’s efforts as local developers have sparked interest from large multinational multibillion-dollar organizations like AEG to invest in Portland, too,” Colas said.

Live Nation partners were scheduled to go before the Portland Bureau of Development Services for a land use hearing July 10, where they planned to seek adjustments to the zoning code for their venue.

Live Nation and Beam want to move required parking for 32 bikes from the property to the public right of way, according to a notice of the hearing. Similarly, they seek to move two truck-loading zones to the right of way. They also want to reduce the “ecoroof area” from 14,617 to 2,100 square feet.

Here’s how the two proposals stack up.