Discover how a long-vacant lot in outer East Portland is becoming a new town center for Lents …
Community leaders, neighbors and public officials gather in the parking lot of The Zed, at Lents Town Center, as builders celebrate the groundbreaking for The Perry mixed‑use building development project.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Although the foundation had already been poured, ground broke on July 24 for The Perry, a $54.5 million multifamily and mixed‑use development that project partners described as the next major step in transforming the Lents Town Center district in outer East Portland.
Artist’s rendering of The Perry depicts a mixed‑use building on SE Foster Road, with storefronts, upper‑story apartments, and public spaces designed to anchor Lents’ evolving town center.
The Perry will rise on a long‑vacant parcel along SE Foster Road, just north of Ramona Street, in the Lents Town Center Tax Increment Finance District. Plans call for 171 new housing units over ground‑floor commercial space, with completion projected for October 2027.
The project is being developed by Palindrome Communities, supported by Prosper Portland through a $10.8 million loan, and a long‑term ground lease.
While introducing speakers, guests, and dignitaries, the host of the event welcomes community leaders and partners to the groundbreaking for The Perry in Lents Town Center.
From proposal to “crown jewel”
Palindrome CEO Chad Rennaker reminded the crowd that his team’s vision for Lents dated back more than a decade. Holding up an old proposal booklet, Rennaker recalled that the cover featured three of his four children, a symbol of what community meant to his family when they first pitched the concept back in 2014.
Palindrome CEO Chad Rennaker addresses neighbors and officials at Lents Town Center during the July 24 groundbreaking for The Perry.
He recounted how the company initially proposed work “on just about all of Lents”, and pushed to move the traditional town center feel north from the historic crossroads of SE 92nd Avenue and Foster Road to the plaza where people gathered for the groundbreaking.
Rennaker told attendees that earlier phases already had shifted that center of gravity, and he characterized The Perry as “the bookend, and the crown jewel” of Palindrome’s vision for the Lents Town Center. Once The Perry is completed, he emphasized, the surrounding plaza would finally function as it had been imagined – a true town center for Lents where commercial activity to the south meets the residential neighborhood to the north.
“We wanted it to be here because this is the intersection of the heavier commercial district to the south [and] the residential district to the north, and we want this to be the gathering place – where those two energies meet, and everyone thrives,” Rennaker explained.
Chad Rennaker describes The Perry’s “very nice” apartments as primarily market‑rate units, intended to better mix incomes and housing types in Lents.
Housing, social infrastructure, and a “departure for Lents”
Addressing the role of housing in this project, Rennaker stressed that buildings alone do not revive a district.
“For 27-plus years now, Palindrome has been doing this – creating places that bring people together, creating places for people to experience happiness,” he said. He characterized housing as “a real key component to the equation”, but maintained that “it’s really social infrastructure” – places that coax people out of their units to interact – “which ultimately activates a neighborhood.”
The Perry, he remarked, will differ from earlier projects, such as Oliver Station at SE Foster Road and 92nd Avenue. While Oliver Station operates largely as an affordable community, Rennaker described The Perry’s apartments as “very nice” units that will be primarily market‑rate, intended to better mix incomes and housing types in Lents.
He expressed confidence that the project “is going to really do a great job of mixing Lents”, and predicted that, “it’s going to change everything”, as new residents and businesses fill the long‑empty corner.
Construction crews are already at work on The Perry site in Lents Town Center, turning a long‑vacant lot into new housing, and ground‑floor commercial space.
A long‑term commitment to Lents
Rennaker used the groundbreaking to reflect on Palindrome’s broader relationship with the neighborhood.
He recalled telling another community, years ago, that when his company chooses a neighborhood, “we go all in, and we stick with that neighborhood always.” Speaking emotionally, he told the Lents gathering that “12 years later, this is our neighborhood. We live here. This is ours, and we will be here for the long term.”
Rennaker pointed to additional nearby opportunities – including the Ironworks property to the south, and other infill sites – as signs that the needed work in Lents is not finished. “There’s still a lot to be done,” he acknowledged, while thanking neighbors and partners, “for trusting us and putting your trust in a little team from Palindrome to bring us together.”
Throughout his remarks, Rennaker repeatedly credited his internal team – a staff like project lead Robert Gibson is deeply handling the details, while he handles the public speaking.
Shovels in hand, Prosper Portland Executive Director Cornell Wesley, Palindrome CEO Chad Rennaker, and Palindrome President Robert Gibson, together turn over a shovel of ceremonial dirt to mark the start of The Perry in Lents Town Center.
Public-private partnership
Prosper Portland’s involvement as both lender and ground lessor underscored the public‑private nature of the project. The agency is providing a $10.8 million loan, and leasing the city‑owned site to Palindrome under a long‑term agreement, helping to leverage private capital for the $54.5 million build‑out.
Project partners framed The Perry as part of a broader effort to turn Lents Town Center into a more active, walkable hub for outer East Portland – on what for years had been a vacant gap along SE Foster Road.
If construction stays on schedule, The Perry is expected to open in October of next year, bringing new residents and businesses to the plaza that Rennaker and city officials are envisioning as “the everyday heart of Lents”.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
