91ÊÓƵ

Mayor Sam Adams and the development team behind the ascended the stage at the Gerding Theater last night, presumably, to discuss their vision for the Rose Quarter district. But what the audience got was a vision that is still very cloudy.

The Blazers have been pitching their Jumptown proposal since early this year. The project would create a day-and-night entertainment district in an area on the eastside currently dominated by surface parking lots, the Rose Garden, Memorial Coliseum and light rail. Though some specifics were mentioned last night (a farmers market, microbreweries, food carts, and other PDX-friendly buzz words) the development proposal seemed pretty half-baked considering the Blazers’ development rights to the Rose Quarter expire in November, a little more than three months away.

The panel, which included Adams; J. Issac, Blazers’ senior vice president of business affairs; Rick Potestio, Jumptown’s architect; and Sarah Mensah, Blazers’ senior vice president and operating officer; was sketchy on details when tough questions were proposed about what the Blazers need to have in place to guarantee an extension of their development agreement. Adams did mention private capital access and community acceptance of the proposal as criteria.

Speaking of access to private capital, Issac mentioned that the Blazers’ development partner, The Cordish Company, has said it will pony up capital on the private side to get the project going. With little new construction starting up, construction of a project of this scale would be a boon to contractors, Issac said. But according to this , Cordish’s track record with contractors isn’t looking good.

Badgett Construction LLC was contracted to build a portion of Cordish’s Fourth Street Live project in Louisville, Kentucky. After doing the work, Badgett invoiced Cordish for the $374, 000 contract. Cordish responded, saying it could only pay about $265,000 at the time. Badgett agreed to the sum, but when the check arrived, it said that the $265,000 was a final payment and that the missing $109,000 would not be paid. Badgett then sued Cordish for their remaining pay, and won.