If all goes as planned, Beam Development will soon acquire and renovate an old Sear’s warehouse on NE 3rd and Couch, more commonly known as the Convention Center Plaza building. Until recently, it was thought that the building would be demolished, once the floundering Burnside Bridgehead redevelopment project got underway. The folks at Beam are known for their adaptive reuse projects around the city, including the Olympic Mills Commerce Center.
According to the Daily Journal of Commerce, Beam principal Brad Malsin is interested in restoring the original look of the building’s exterior and pursuing a listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This would be a fantastic step that would firmly implant historic preservation into the bridgehead project, providing another great example of adaptive reuse in the Central East Side.
Portland Preservation 
You can tell that that building must have been attractive at an earlier time. It will be great to see it resuscitated, if Malsin can accomplish it. It could become a highly attractive “anchor” for the blank spaces near it.