Kelly's Olympian, the 124-year-old dive bar on Southwest Washington Street, opens a $750,000 renovation Tuesday, Oct. 27, alongside a new coworking space in the floors above it.
Co-owner Ben Stutz said he and other investors poured $750,000 into upgrades at the Bullier Building at 420-426 S.W. Washington St., first reported by The Oregonian.
The work includes a shared workspace run by coworking firm UrbanWork on the upper floors, a passage connecting the bar to Kelly's music venue, and other interior and exterior improvements.
The bar and UrbanWork are billing the event as a "Back from the Dead" celebration.
A $50 ticketed opening begins at 4 p.m. with appetizers and a drink included. A free open house starts at 6:30 p.m., followed by live music from The Neon Prairie Dogs at 7:30 p.m.
The bet is that pairing a bar with office space can draw white-collar workers back to a downtown block that has struggled since the pandemic.
Stutz told The Oregonian the hardest stretch came in 2023, when Washington Center across the street became a hub for drug trafficking, including fentanyl, before its owners boarded up the former retail and office complex.
Kelly's kept naloxone, the opioid-overdose reversal medication, as a budget line item. Bar employees used it frequently when they witnessed overdoses nearby, Stutz said.
"We never closed and, and we're proud of that," Stutz said. "We've considered ourselves battle worn, battle scarred."
UrbanWork founder Reid Fetters first opened a coworking location in Tacoma. Plans to pair a Kelly's Olympian bar with that Tacoma space fell through because of COVID-19, but Stutz said the Tacoma location's success made the concept seem viable in Portland.
UrbanWork's website lists coworking desks at the Bullier Building starting at $100 per month, with private offices, dedicated desks and open desks on month-to-month terms.
The project lands amid broader signs of life in Portland's central city.
A May news release from Mayor Keith Wilson's office cited new lease commitments from Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and accounting firm Geffen Mesher & Co., along with coworking firm UpStart Collective's move into the Big Pink tower.
Portland's coworking market has been volatile: both WeWork and Industrious tried and failed to fill the U.S. Custom House near the North Park Blocks, and that building went back on the market after selling for $30 million in 2017, The Oregonian reported.
The free open house includes guided tours of the building from basement to sixth floor, led by Rising Cities and Pretty Gritty Tours. The event is 21-and-older only.
