Credit: Metro
Portland, Oregon
Portland Expo Center Future-Use Sports & Events Project Study
Metro, which manages facilities that include the Portland Expo Center, hired Hunden Partners to conduct numerous studies as part of a team of consultants weighing issues of future use sports and events at the expo center. Hunden’s analysis focused on national and regional competitive assessments of other convention centers and exposition halls, a study of expansion and renovation as these applied to the Portland Expo Center, and analysis of the financial, fiscal, and employment impact. The project has advanced to redevelopment.
Situation
The Portland Expo Center, built in the early 1920s, is a 53-acre campus located in north Portland near Vancouver, Washington. Managed by Metro, the facility includes five interconnected exhibit halls totaling more than 333,000 square feet. For over a century, the Expo Center has served as Portland’s gathering place, attracting nearly 500,000 visitors and more than 100 events each year.
Hunden Partners was engaged by Metro to conduct a market demand and financial feasibility study to determine the highest and best use of the Portland Expo Center (PEC) campus and to assess how the facility could pivot operations, either through renovation or redevelopment, into a community-focused venue for amateur, professional, and recreational sports. The Hunden Partners team included Rowe Consulting Group, Cascadia Partners, a Portland-based planning and consulting firm, Perkins&Will, and Sports Facilities Company.
Approach
The Expo Future Project builds upon Hunden’s 2014 expansion feasibility study and the 2019 Development Opportunity Study prepared by Cascadia Partners. The project advanced through a community engagement process in 2020 and 2021, an RFEI process in 2022, and the adoption of community-driven guiding principles. Hunden’s analysis addressed national and regional sports tourism and entertainment trends, development and facility cost estimates, demand and financial projections, economic, fiscal, and employment impact analysis, and funding options.
Impact
As of 2025, the $300-million Portland Expo Center redevelopment is in advanced planning, with Metro conducting an engineering study of Hall A and establishing criteria for selecting a private development partner. The expansion is expected to allow the Expo Center to host more than 120 sporting events annually, attract more than one million visitors, and generate significant economic and employment benefits throughout the region.
