Find out who purchased this well-established outer East Portland shopping center, located in the Lents neighborhood, and how this transaction is likely to enliven this major mall on SE 82nd Avenue …
The gateway of Eastport Plaza is at the corner of S. E. 82nd Avenue of Roses and Holgate Boulevard. It still looks much the same as it did in our 2004 retouched ‘glamour’ photograph.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
After several years of being operated by out-of-state managers, Eastport Plaza will again be locally owned.
According to Multnomah County records, Eastport Plaza Shopping Center LLC, an investor group led by Brandon Wang and Hoang Nguyen, purchased the entire shopping complex in January for $28 million.
The corner portal of Eastport Plaza, as it looks today.
If the buyers’ names seem familiar, it’s because – in late 2023 – Wang and Nguyen purchased the former Walmart building there, and its underlying property, for $20 million, remodeling it into their fourth the Hong Phát Supercenter.
Hong Phát sells Asian, Eastern European, Latino, Middle Eastern, and American groceries and goods, and also operates a robust food court in the store.
Owners of the Hong Phát Supercenter, which replaced the Walmart store, now own all of Eastport Plaza. They plan no major changes in the composition and service of the Shopping Center.
According to information from shopping center’s sellers, Dallas, TX-based SRS Real Estate Partners, the mall last changed hands in the late 1990s. The mortgage was arranged with an undisclosed life insurance company for the borrowers by Ethos Commercial Advisors.
In 1996, the enclosed “shopping mall” that stood here was replaced with islands of stores at Eastport Plaza.
“Hong Phát has deep Portland roots, and will continue the stewardship of one of Portland’s most recognizable shopping centers with a ‘local’s touch’,” the news release said. “[The new owners] plan to utilize their connections within the Portland business community, as well as the Asian business community, to ensure the property fulfills its destiny as the centerpiece of the 82nd corridor.”
60 years of shopping center history
When the covered, open air shopping mall began construction in October 20, 1959, at a cost of $5 million, it was one of the most expensive building projects in the Pacific Northwest at the time.
Opening on October 27, 1960, the new shopping center featuring J. C. Penny, Lipman’s, and Newberry’s as anchor stores.
It’s a historic day, in 1960, when Eastport Plaza opens to the public. Courtesy of Stumptown Blogger
As some of its main tenants left for Clackamas Town Center to the south, its fortunes declined in the 1990s, and the enclosed promenade structure was demolished in 1996. Within a year, it was presented as a “distributed” shopping plaza, with “islands” of stores.
In 2007, Eastport Plaza’s Manager at the time, Ken Turner, worked with neighborhood and business leaders to establish the annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade in an effort to build community, and improve S. E. 82nd Avenue’s image.
It’s uncertain if the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade will be able to stage this year in the Eastport Century 16 Theater parking lot.
While 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade organizers, the 82 Roses Community Enrichment Coalition, are diligently planning the 19th edition of their parade, they say it’s currently unclear whether the procession will stage at Eastport Plaza, or at another location on SE 82nd Avenue of Roses.
We’ll update this part of the story as more information becomes available. And, check 82 Roses Community Enrichment Coalition website for current information: CLICK HERE.
© 2025 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™