Located at Southeast 99th Avenue and Washington Street near Interstate 205, Mall 205 was the first enclosed shopping center in Oregon when it was built in 1971. Center Oak bought the beleaguered property last year in a package deal last year from New York-based First Union Real Estate. "I used to joke that I found the last nickel spent there and it had a buffalo on it," Bruning told GlobeSt last fall, when the project was originally scheduled to begin.

Center Oak plans to put up $15 million for a completely renovated shell and three new pads fronting Washington Street will add strong new retailers and restaurateurs. The tenants will put up the other $15 million in tenant improvements.

Instead of names like Emporium, Montgomery Ward and "a very tired Rite Aid," Bruning says there'll be Home Depot, a full-service 24-Hour Fitness and Mars Music, a Tampa, FL-based company just beginning to place superstores on the West Coast. Instead of a sea of parking from street to storefronts, Pier One Imports, Red Robin and one other restaurant will add roadside appeal.