Other Venues
a collection of places i’ve only been to once:
The Hotel Zags: May 22 2025
The Hotel Zags is located in downtown Portland at 515 SW Clay St. The hotel was built in the early 1960s as the Doric Portland Motor Hotel, when it used the adjacent 1414 SW 6th Ave address. In 1963, the Doric Motel Company’s chain of 20 hotels was sold to Los Angeles’s Gene Autry Hotel Company for $20 million, and the Doric Portland Motor Hotel was later renamed the Portland Motor Hotel. Throughout the 1970s-1990s, the Portland Motor Hotel (PoMoHo) was a popular lunch destination for downtown workers. Sometime in the 1990s, it became the Days Inn Portland City Center. In 2008, the SW 6th Ave vehicle entrance was condemned by the city in order to construct the transit mall, and the hotel was subsequently remodeled into the boutique Hotel Modera, with the original parking lot and swimming pool being replaced by an outdoor courtyard. In 2013, the Modera was sold to the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust for $46 million, who renovated it and renamed it The Hotel Zags in 2019. The hotel was the home of restaurant Nel Centro from 2009 until closing during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Tech Noir Studios: Nov 22 2024
This rentable space located in inner NE Portland advertises itself as a “Performance stage, bluescreen, arcade, coffee shop, lounge, and private event venue.” As of May 2025, it rented for $150/hour.
Topaz Farm: July 22 2021
Located on Sauvie Island, Topaz Farm opened in 2020 and is owned by married couple Jim Abeles and Katherine “Kat” Topaz. Prior to purchasing the farm, Jim Abeles worked as a deputy sheriff with the West Linn Police Department, where he was named the top intoxicated driving enforcement officer in the state of Oregon in 2015. As of 2025, Kat is a board member with the West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District.