The Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE) has officially renamed the future 2,000-seat Concert Hall and 250-seat Cabaret in downtown Bellevue in honor of a $25 million grant given by the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation.

The performance venue, set to be built at the corner of NE 10th Street and 106th Avenue NE, will now be called the Tateuchi (pronounced Ta-teh-OO-chee) Center.

The donation is the largest grant ever given to an Eastside organization.

The center’s Executive Director and CEO John Haynes hopes the announcement of the sizable grant will spur other investors to get on board.

“With any large project like this, there’s a long period early on where the people involved are mostly insiders. They are the ones who are passionate about the project and the initial funding typically comes from the board. Other donors usually keep a distance until they see something big happen. Then they jump aboard,” he explained. “Well, this is something big.”

The majority of the $25 million grant given by the Tateuchi Foundation will help fund the center’s capital campaign, with $3 million designated for programming including Japanese performances, in tribute to the late Japanese-American humanitarian and business leader Atsuhiko Tateuchi.

The donation by the foundation brings the center closer to the $160 million goal. The center has now raised $60 million toward the goal, which includes $114 million in construction costs.

Prior gifts donated to the Bellevue project include a $300,000 personal gift from Steve and Paula Reynolds, a $100,000 combined gift from Anu and Naveen Jain and Intelius, $1.1 million from Microsoft, a $2 million capital grant from the city of Bellevue, $5 million from the state of Washington and $1.2 million from King County.

“A nonprofit that can raise $60 million is one you should pay attention to,” Haynes said. “Let’s face it, $60 million is not chump change. This is going to happen and it’s a worthy investment.”

Haynes first met with a representative of the Seattle-based Tateuchi Foundation in January 2008. The Tateuchi family expressed an interest in the possibility of a naming gift after learning of the mission behind the performance center.

The Tateuchi Foundation was created to build bridges, improve understanding and promote artistic and cultural exchange.

“The Tateuchi Foundation wanted to make sure there was a harmony between the foundation and the mission of the performing arts center,” Haynes explained. “Once they saw that the harmony and purpose aligned, they were eager to get on board.”

The recent grant to the performing arts center is not the first given to benefit the Bellevue-area by the Tateuchi Foundation. In 2004, the foundation gave a capital grant to the city of Bellevue to fund the building of a viewing pavilion, a bridge and a viewing deck at the Botanical Gardens. The Tateuchi Foundation also has given grants to the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Seattle Public Library.

The renaming of the Bellevue-based performing arts center will be celebrated in the relaunch of the nonprofit’s web site this week. The new site (www.tateuchicenter.org) was designed and coded by in-house creative director, Patrick Ryan. His former projects include the creation of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center brand at the University of Notre Dame. He was recruited by Haynes to work on the branding of the performance center in Bellevue.

The Tateuchi Center is in “shovel-ready” status and recently filed for building permits from the city. The center, designed by architect Norman Pfeiffer, is scheduled to open in 2013 and will bring first-class cultural events including world-renowned musicians and performances. Ground breaking is still on course for Fall 2011.

“If we can get the building into the ground in another year, we will save $20 million on final construction cost,” Haynes said. “That’s huge considering just two or three years ago the annual inflation rate for construction was nearing 5 percent. Right now, construction inflation is running at zero. This is the time to build.”

Lindsay Larin can be reached at 425-453-4602.