For nearly five years, the shell of a department store has sat shuttered in downtown Salem.
Nat Borchers wants to open its doors again.
Borchers, a former professional soccer player, is the face of a group of Salem investors who are purchasing the former JC Penney building at 305 Liberty St. N.E. in downtown. Their intent is to remake it as a community entertainment and shopping hub.
Plans include a night market in the basement and a yet-to-be determined entertainment destination on the ground level.
“It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be exciting and make people want to come downtown,” Borchers said.
There are no plans for a grocery store — a perennial Salem question where downtown development is concerned. Borchers said they’d consider it if a suitable company wanted to operate in the building. So far, none has.
He floated several possibilities for entertainment, and said his group wants to hear from Salem residents about what they’d like to see. Ideas include an arcade, pickleball, bowling, restaurant, a destination for kids or a skating rink.
The second floor will be divided into 30 to 40 smaller suites for professional and personal services like haircuts, accountants or therapists.
A rooftop patio will become a spot for food and drink, with the current opaque walls lowered so Salemites can appreciate the panoramic view of their city’s core.
The development group is paying $5 million for the building, Borchers said, purchasing it from a company managed by Portland developer Stu Lindquist. His development company bought the site after the department store shut its doors in 2020.
The building has sat essentially untouched since — so much so that empty racks and department store shelving remain clustered across the sales floor.
Borchers expects to spend millions more on a renovation. They’ll begin with the basement, after they close the deal in August.
His hope is to open the night market quickly as the rest of the building is developed. It would feature rotating entertainment and a mix of vendors, with themes around holidays to draw people in.
“We have to get that right so we can build up,” Borchers said.
The See’s Candy store that operates out of the building with a Liberty Street storefront will remain.
The investor group includes Borchers, Salem developer Chris Blackburn of Clutch Industries, and real estate broker AJ Nash. They’re operating under a company 305 Liberty LLC.
It’s the latest venture in an ambitious transformation of north downtown that’s underway.
Borchers is part of the group opening The Forge on Northeast Liberty Street, which connects to the JC Penney via a second-story skybridge. Small suites on the second floor house personal service providers and women-owned businesses, anchored by Clink!, a new French restaurant that’s soon to open.
A second location for Dreamies Creamery, the Dallas sheep’s milk ice cream producer, is among the businesses slated to open as part of the complex.
A separate investor group including Kelly McDonald and Patrick Carney purchased Salem Center Mall last year, as well as the former Macy’s location. They own the former Cinebarre site, which McDonald is working to reopen under an independent theater operator.
Improvements for three suites in the Macy’s are underway, McDonald said, though they haven’t announced tenants.
Borchers is also the owner of the 45th Parallel Building in north Salem, which he acquired in 2022. The complex is anchored by Xicha Brewing and features dozens of small businesses ranging from food production to barbers.
Downtown development is newer to him, and he said the neighborhood suffers from a perception issue that it’s unsafe. He expects visible security, better lighting and other quality of life improvements will help counter that impression.
Apartments downtown have been opening at a rapid clip in recent years, with hundreds more units planned for development.
Borchers said the new JC Penney’s venture and the Forge amount to a vote of confidence in the future of downtown Salem.
“Downtowns need to be healthy for cities to thrive,” he said. “We’re betting big The Forge is going to be a big hit.”
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade and is a past president of Oregon’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
