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Portland Diamond Project has reached an agreement in principle with the Port of Portland to potentially develop Terminal 2 into a major league ballpark, the group announced Thursday.

The 53-acre industrial site is on the west bank of the Willamette River, across from Daimler Trucks North America’s headquarters.

The letter of intent will kick off a process with the city and port to create a ballpark and community destination, the baseball group said. Now all it needs is a franchise 鈥� something that can be granted only by Major League Baseball.

鈥淲e’re committed to building a sustainable, equitable and accessible ballpark that reflects what makes Portland such a special place to live,鈥� Craig Cheek, founder and president of Portland Diamond Project, stated in an announcement.

The group shifted its focus to Terminal 2 after efforts to acquire two other sites fell through. Portland Diamond Project withdrew an offer made to Portland Public Schools for its 10.5-acre headquarters property north of the Rose Quarter, the group announced in early November. Portland Diamond Project representatives said they were deferring to Albina Vision, a community group that seeks to rebuild a neighborhood in the area.

Previously, in August, the Portland Diamond Project pursued the 22.45-acre Esco Corp. industrial site in Northwest Portland. But it was purchased for $33 million by a group of mostly local investors. The baseball group stated its timeline didn’t match up with the seller’s.

鈥淔or the past year, we’ve been highly focused on securing the best possible property for development of a ballpark and have deeply analyzed multiple sites,鈥� Cheek stated Thursday. 鈥淎lthough additional options continue to present themselves, we are excited to announce that Terminal 2 is our preferred location and want to thank the Port of Portland for being such a great partner in this vision.鈥�

Mayor Ted Wheeler quickly backed the project with a tweet.

鈥淏aseball has a rich tradition in Portland,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎 ballpark along the (Northwest) bank of the Willamette River would have a positive impact on our economy while shaping the next great (Portland) neighborhood.鈥�

The Portland Diamond Project is working with Populous, a design firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, that has designed stadiums for clients such as the 2012 London Olympics, Texas A&M University and English soccer club Tottenham Hotspur. TVA Architects of Portland, led by founder Bob Thompson, also is working on the design.

Terminal 2 was operated by Willamette Iron & Steel Co. before the Port of Portland acquired the property in 1953. During the 1960s, it had dedicated space for auto imports including Volkswagen and Datsun, Port of Portland spokeswoman Melanie Mesaros stated in an email.

Terminal 2 was renovated in 1988 and a Post Panamax crane was added. The terminal has mostly industrial neighbors, including Ager Tank and Equipment and Viking Automatic Sprinkler Co.

The extent of MLB’s interest in Portland, or expanding or relocating a team to any market, is unclear. Commissioner Rob Manfred, in a July TV appearance, listed Portland along with Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville; Montreal and Vancouver, Canada, and Mexico as potential expansion markets.

MLB has 30 teams, and expanding to 32 could allow for a divisional realignment. MLB last expanded in 1998, when it added teams in Phoenix and Tampa Bay.

The last team to relocate was the Montreal Expos, which moved to Washington, D.C., for the 2005 season, and the club became the Washington Nationals.

On Wednesday, the Oakland A’s, one of the clubs thought to be a potential relocation candidate, unveiled new designs for a stadium at Howard Terminal. The team is negotiating with the Port of Oakland to lease or buy the property, with an April deadline to come to an agreement or lose a deposit, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Portland Diamond Project has been on a months-long marketing campaign to generate interest locally and catch MLB’s attention. The group has rolled out a list of celebrity investors, including the power couple of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and singer Ciara, and retired baseball players Dale Murphy and Darwin Barney.

Cheek, a former Nike executive, is the founder and president of the Portland Diamond Project, and former Trail Blazers broadcaster Mike Barrett is managing director. The group has not revealed the extent of its financial backing. Professional sports teams are often owned by individuals or groups with billions of dollars in assets, such as the late Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, or the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group that includes billionaire investment manager Mark Walter, basketball legend Magic Johnson and others.