Thousands of people packed the Lloyd Center on August 8 to celebrate and mourn 60 years of history for the large shopping mall on Portland’s East Side. Homemade signs hung from the mall’s three-story atrium and parking garage, proclaiming “Lloyd’s Not Dead.”

For three businesses, Lloyd actually isn’t dead — they are still operating on the 30-acre site.

“We’re one of the few businesses not leaving,” said Roshan Fernando, the co-owner of Jumbo’s Pickleball. “We’re sticking around and want folks to know if they want to come have a good time, we’re still here.”

Jumbo’s Pickleball moved into the former Regal movie theater on the third floor of the Lloyd Center in late 2024, building out eight regulation-sized pickleball courts. Fernando said they now have hundreds of people coming to play at the Lloyd Center location each month.

“I understand why there’s been so much press about the mall closing for good reason. Lloyd Center’s meant a lot to a lot of people and that doesn’t go away,” Fernando said. But fanfare around the mall’s closure means that many customers are confused about Jumbo’s Pickleball, said Fernando, “We’ve done our best to let people know, ‘no, we’re not leaving.’ We have no plans to leave.”

Fernando said that Jumbo’s Pickleball team always had clear communication from the mall’s management, Urban Renaissance Group, about future redevelopment of the site.

“We get along with them really well. They want us to succeed. We want to succeed,” said Fernando.

That relationship is part of why Jumbo’s Pickleball is staying put. And it’s not the only business with plans to remain.

Trackers Earth, a camp focused on survival skills, has operated in the former Marshall’s department store since 2023, with over 1,200 campers coming through each summer. Tracker’s founder Tony Deis said the store’s big, open spaces are perfect for archery and indoor play during bad weather. The Lloyd Center’s extensive parking lots and loading docks make it easy for the camp’s buses.

Tony Deis said the camp’s creative spirit made it a perfect fit for the recent iteration of the Lloyd Center, which reinvented the mall with local, independent businesses.

“All the business owners, everyone there, they’re incredible people,” said Deis. “The entrepreneurial spirit has been phenomenal to see and be part of.”

Trackers Earth is staying in the space, which has its own utilities and a private entrance separate from the rest of the mall. Trackers Earth has planned programming and camps through next year and they’ve even told the mall owners they’d be interested in buying their portion of the building, but said conversations are ‘still evolving.’

“We are not going anywhere for the foreseeable future,” said Deis.

The final remaining tenant has had a less congenial relationship with the mall’s owners. Dermatologist Claudia Taylor has operated her solo practice, Dermatology Professionals, in the mall for 14 years.

Taylor hired a lawyer who specialized in tenant law when the owners tried to unexpectedly end her lease after the mall’s foreclosure and transfer to KKR Real Estate in 2021. She said her lawyer believed the mall’s owners wanted to clear out tenants ahead of a potential redevelopment.

“They’re trying to strong-arm you out so they can say, ‘Look, we have no leases hanging over this property. It’s free and clear. You can invest in it. Everything’s ready to go for a potential buyer,’” Taylor said.

As the plans for the Lloyd Center became public, Taylor started to realize she needed to find a new space and hired a real estate broker to find a new clinic location. “It’s like losing something that’s extremely important to you. This kind of thing is like death in a way and I was in extreme denial,” she said.

Eventually, Taylor and the property owners reached an agreement that will allow her to remain through the end of her lease in April 2027. The owners agreed to changes that will allow patients to reach her office from an external entrance, while partitioning her space from the closed mall.

Taylor is now looking for a new clinic property and hopes to stay nearby in the Lloyd District. “It’s a wonderful place to practice because it’s the confluence of many different freeways. People can get here so easily. That was one of the reasons I chose this place,” said Taylor. “It would be lovely to be in the Lloyd District because of that. It’s quite central for a lot of people coming from a lot of different places.”

That accessibility is also one reason Trackers Earth and Jumbo’s Pickleball are hoping to stay at their locations on the Lloyd Center property long-term.

Roshan Fernando, co-owner of Jumbo’s Pickleball, is even thinking about adding a bar or mini-golf alongside the courts.

But for Fernando, the future of the space is less about what gets added than about what already exists: a place where people can come together.

“I promise you’ll come meet great people and it’ll be a ton of fun,” he said.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/15/portland-lloyd-center-not-dead-for-three-businesses/