The Pearl according to Father Al
Developer Al Solheim remains optimistic about the district's future
A huge framed photograph in Al Solheim’s office reminds him of where it started:
In black and white, the camera captured the view down Northwest 13th at Hoyt in 1987. Pallets are stacked on the loading dock of the carton service building. Pickup trucks, vans, old sedans and a VW bug are parked on either side of the old train tracks running down the middle of the street, dusted with snow.
What Solheim saw was possibility. All the elements were there: A light industrial triangle and railyard with spacious warehouses, next door to downtown. A defined neighborhood between the I-405 overpass and Old Town, free to build on its own gritty character. The artists were already there — unleashing their visions behind industrial roll-up doors. The time had come.
He and other developers — Homer Williams, Bob Ball, John Carroll, Patrick Prendergast and more — invested. The city collaborated. Stars aligned. And a thriving district of artists’ studios and galleries, home design stores and clothing boutiques, white collar offices, restaurants, condos, parks and hubs like the Brewery Blocks was born.
But like most business districts, the Pearl took hits during the pandemic and afterward, as homelessness worsened and the sight of — and interaction with — human suffering became commonplace.
When iconic businesses like the Pearl Bakery closed in 2019, filling vacant spaces got harder. The number of retail vacancies in the district rose to more than 100. Condo values dropped. Jamison Square, once a magnet for residents, visitors and, in the summers, children drawn to its wadeable water feature, became overrun at times by people in various stages of addiction.
The neighborhood is still wobbling toward equilibrium as it navigates balancing livability interests with being part of the solution to homelessness. But Pearl residents and business leaders are leaning in. The Northwest Community Conservancy launched in December 2022 to focus on neighborhood security, advocacy and livability. Its first executive director, Chase McPherson, came on in 2024. And the Pearl District Neighborhood Association has gained an energetic new leader in Bruce Studer.
“There’s a lot of people who really care, and we have the ability to do things because we have a focused area with a lot of committed people,” Solheim said.
Today, lean and lanky in his signature Patagonia vest and untucked oxford, he looks out his office window on Northwest 12th and Hoyt and sees signs of revival.
The map above shows businesses that have opened in the Pearl District just in the last year. Click here to enlarge the map and see the many businesses that have opened south of Northwest Glisan.
A small-business boom
Directly across 12th from Solheim’s office is the terra cotta building once home to Oba! The popular Latin-themed restaurant and bar abruptly closed in 2017 and the building has stood empty since. Today the spot is a hub of construction activities as James and Brian Malarkey, the brothers behind Bend’s Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge, reimagine the space into a destination steakhouse opening in June.
The new restaurant is only a fraction of what’s popping in the Pearl. Solheim and his communications and marketing sidekick Susanne Orton created a map of new businesses in the last year. They’re up to 29. It’s a mix of established Portland businesses relocating to the Pearl or opening an additional location there as well as new businesses opening.
“I watch our parking lot fill up now right across the street here, and the streets are getting busier and busier during the day,” he said.
Tandy Leather moved from out by the airport to Northwest 13th and Irving. Grand Prix Motors is moving this year from Goose Hollow into the Northwest 14th and Kearney space REI vacated in 2024. Hunt & Gather, in addition to its event space at Northwest 12th and Glisan, has opened HG Provisions, a deli featuring items like sprouted green wheat salad and flat iron steak sandwiches. And if you want to get into the newest Frank’s Noodle House at Northwest 10th and Davis, show up when they open at 11 a.m. and get in line.
When The Joinery’s lease on the Yamhill transit mall behind Nordstrom ended last spring, the handcrafted furniture making team began looking for a place with more foot traffic and fewer impacts related to homelessness, drug use, mental illness and crime. A few team members floated leaving the city, but owner Jon Blumenauer stood firm.
“We’re a Portland company and I have deep roots and ties to the city itself,” Blumenauer said. “We want to play a role in the city’s recovery.”
The opportunity to lease the iconic Pearl Bakery, which had stood empty for six years, felt like a fit. “To have a chance to go in and reactivate that space in particular was really gratifying,” Blumenauer said.
The Joinery, which moved in May, is enjoying the healthy competition and the synergy with other high-end furniture, home goods and interior design shops. In its showroom, The Joinery displays carpets from SMG Collective and art from Laura Vincent Gallery and is partnering with neighbors like Elizabeth Leach Gallery to develop Art & Design on 9th, a sip-and-stroll event through art galleries and design shops on Feb 12, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“There is a lot of cross-collaboration and promotion,” Blumenauer said. “It’s great.”
Meanwhile, he continues meeting with city councilors and Mayor Keith Wilson to share thoughts on ways to shore up downtown and the rest of the city.
“Their jobs are challenging and they have a complex set of challenges to navigate and I want to be a good partner,” he said. “It will take time, but we are on the right track.”
HDR Engineering is among mid-size employers moving to the Pearl. With the likes of the new Multnomah County Courthouse in its portfolio, HDR moved in the fall from Southwest Sixth and Main into 35,000 square feet in the Pearl West at Northwest 14th and Irving. Their 180 team members work in the office three to four days a week.
“When our lease ended, we saw an opportunity to reimagine our workspace and create an environment that better supports collaboration, innovation and future growth,” wrote Tracy Ellwein, HDR Oregon area operations manager, in an email. “The Pearl District offers vibrant amenities — coffee shops, breweries and restaurants — that foster connection and community beyond office walls.”
Reoccupying the city
Just like back in the ‘80s, new-to-the-area artists showed up early.
Pippa Arend moved her art studio and office to the Pearl from inner Southeast in February 2022 as Portland was still emerging from the pandemic. “I felt a personal responsibility to reoccupy our city,” said Arend, who is also a philanthropic consultant and co-founder of the homeless youth program p:ear.
The building she settled on at Northwest 13th and Davis was sparsely occupied allowing her to negotiate a favorable lease. Now the building is nearly full — with artists, interior designers and a tech startup that moved in a few months ago.
“It’s a fantastic old bricker, with a big, industrial elevator, wood floors and ceilings, huge timber beams from a different era of construction,” said Arend, who now enjoys evolving her new expressionistic painting style, “Splash Portraiture,” in what she describes as “the Rembrandt-like light through the old pane windows.”
Solheim enjoys walking the bustling streets on a sunny day, noticing more new businesses to add to their map and stepping into HG Provisions for a bite. Solheim is sometimes called the Father of the Pearl for his role in developing it, and indeed he takes a fatherly pride.
“I think it’s coming back,” he says.
This is the kind of positive news we need as we bring our City back! Thank you Al for your vision and persistence in the Pearl.
Wonderful news for the Pearl! I'll have a few new businesses to submit for inclusion in the map as I have new tenants moving into the historic Ecotrust building soon. Very excited for the Malarkey's steakhouse revitalzing the Oba space. I remember when Oba was the catalsyt that put the Pearl on the map as a destination, and I'm hopeful we'll see a similar spark.