Following recent approval by the board of trustees, the UO’s Lundquist College of Business is making plans to move the Oregon Executive MBA Program and sports product management initiative to a new building in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown.

The UO will be an anchor tenant in a $37 million, six-story structure to be built on the corner of Northwest First Avenue and Davis Street, across the street from the White Stag Block. The university is expected to open the new space in January 2016.

The business school will occupy 11,500 square feet on the ground floor of the building. The move will put the business programs within easy reach of the UO’s other academic programs in Portland.

“It’s an opportune time for both the Lundquist College and the University of Oregon,” business school Dean Kees de Kluyver said. “As we add to and escalate our offerings, our presence in this building will help us realize greater efficiencies in terms of travel, teaching and student opportunities.”

The university is working with the development company Gerding Edlen and its CEO Mark Edlen on the project, which will continue the wave of urban renewal in Portland’s Old Town district. Edlen earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA at the UO and is a member of the business school’s board of advisors.

“We have the opportunity to serve as a catalyst for long-term renewal,” Edlen said. “The Lundquist College will be an excellent neighbor to existing organizations and businesses, just as the programs in the UO White Stag Block have been since it opened. We look forward to playing a part not only in expanding the UO presence in Old Town Chinatown, but also building up the community feel of an already fantastic Portland neighborhood.”

The move will put the business programs in the same neighborhood as other UO programs, including those offered by the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, School of Journalism and Communication, School of Law, Academic Extension and the Library and Learning Commons. The Oregon Executive MBA program, currently located at the 200 Market Street building in Portland, just welcomed its largest-ever class at 52 members. 

The new site also will house the expanded sports product management  program. That initiative has already held several sold-out workshops in Portland and is expected to receive approval for a masters degree program this fall.