City councilors on Wednesday blasted what some described as a rushed process to approve funding for Moda Center renovations and a lease agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Councilors are beginning to grapple with how the city of Portland should manage the Moda Center, what it will take to keep the NBA team in town and who will benefit.

On Wednesday, they hosted what is expected to be the first of several work sessions on the Moda Center’s future.

An unscientific city-commissioned survey found split opinion on whether Portland should invest potentially $120 million in modernizing the arena, which dates to 1995. The city took ownership of the arena in 2025.

“It’s clear to me that Portlanders are not speaking with one voice,” Councilor Candace Avalos said. “People are divided on whether the Moda Center should be renovated, or even more skeptical about committing significant public dollars. So to me what that means is we just have an obligation to slow down, ask good questions (and) make sure that the public understands the choices that are in front of us.”

The survey garnered more than 18,000 responses, with most respondents either strongly in favor or strongly opposed to Moda Center renovations.

Avalos said it’s important that Trail Blazers ownership chip in financially. She said she wants to see a “meaningful private capital contribution from ownership, consistent with many arena deals around the country. That is probably my number-one issue.”

Avalos added, “I’m going to have a hard time agreeing to give public money if I’m not seeing a private investment.”

Councilor Dan Ryan said the city should make the Moda Center into an asset it can be proud of, comparing it to the Portland International Airport, which has undergone a more than $2 billion renovation and expansion.

“When I play this forward, I can’t see one scenario where having … the Portland Trail Blazers leave our city and that’s going to be good for the long term for my hometown,” he said.

Looming in the background is uncertainty regarding Trail Blazers’ principal owner Tom Dundon’s intentions for the franchise. Dundon has few local ties and business interests in other states, including the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. Dundon and his ownership group purchased the Blazers last year from Paul Allen’s estate for more than $4 billion.

While city councilors laid out their priorities, Dundon spoke across town to business and political leaders, including Gov. Tina Kotek, at a Portland Metro Chamber event.

“The state is committed to a new Moda Center,” Kotek said, according to a KATU video of the event. “We can do this — should do it.”

Asked whether the Blazers’ ownership would contribute to Moda Center renovations, Dundon said the Blazers will chip in through taxes on players’ salaries as part of a bill approved in the Oregon Legislature‘s last session, as well as fees on tickets.

“It feels like we’re making a pretty big investment by staying here and paying these tax rates and agreeing to these fees for dollars that go back into the building,” Dundon said.

The Moda Center actually generates more revenue from concerts and other events than it does from the Trail Blazers, as live events took off after the pandemic, a city staffer said Wednesday.  The arena also hosts the fledgling Portland Fire, the WNBA’s newest franchise.

In the runup to Wednesday’s work session, Mayor Keith Wilson and left-leaning city councilors traded barbs.

“Good process means sitting down, figuring out the math and keeping the public informed and empowered every step of the way, not duking it out in the media or on Instagram,” Wilson said in a letter he released Tuesday.

Councilor Mitch Green responded on social media that he was “unsettled” by the mayor’s viewpoint. “Rather than acknowledge that there are very real concerns about how this process has unfolded, he chose instead to cast critique as short-sighted and opportunistic in an effort to deflect from the impressive lack of rigor to date on his part,” Green posted to BlueSky.

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Architectural renderings of a proposed renovation of the Moda Center show sweeping concourses with views of the basketball court and improved lighting, but whether public officials can muster support for the $600 million price tag remains to be seen.

They’re certainly trying. State and local officials mounted a concerted campaign this week to press the case for funding upgrades for the arena, which the city of Portland acquired in 2024 and leased back to Rip City Management, the management company of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Without the renovation, local leaders fear the Trail Blazers will move to another city.

“Renovating the Moda Center isn’t about one building — it’s about Oregon’s future,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in legislative testimony on Wednesday. “This project strengthens our economy, supports communities across the state and ensures Oregon remains competitive for major events and investment. With state partnership, it becomes a generational investment in jobs, culture and long-term economic relevance.”

Oregon lawmakers hope to raise a large chunk of the necessary amount with a tax on players and other employees around the Moda Center. A bill to create the fund and direct tax revenues to it was introduced in the state Senate on Monday. The legislation, Senate Bill 1501, would also allow the state’s Department of Administrative Services to take ownership in partnership with the city of Portland.

The city and Multnomah County are also discussing potential funding sources to remake the Moda Center. Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson called the Moda Center “a crucial economic engine for our state” in testimony given Wednesday. Gov. Tina Kotek also voiced support.

Despite growing criticism in some circles of taxpayer subsidies for sports teams, business leaders are largely united behind efforts to retain the Trail Blazers.

“It’s hard to understate the importance of the Trail Blazers to our community, especially at a time like this,” said Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group, a major Portland real estate investment firm.

Portland can’t afford to lose the Blazers when the city’s economic recovery remains fragile, he said.

“Portland’s getting better, but we’ve obviously had some setbacks,” he said. “And losing the Blazers would be devastating to the pride of the community.”

Fears the Blazers could move have risen as Paul Allen’s estate, controlled by Jody Allen, prepares to relinquish ownership of the team to an investment group led by Tom Dundon, a Dallas businessman with few apparent ties to Oregon.

Sports team owners have not been shy about moving operations in search of better stadium deals. Major League Baseball‘s Athletics are in the process of moving from Sacramento to Las Vegas after jilting its longtime hometown of Oakland, California. The NFL‘s Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles to Oakland to Las Vegas. Seattle still bears psychological wounds from the SuperSonics leaving for Oklahoma City. And even the Chicago Bears, one of the NFL’s oldest franchises, is considering leaving the city — the state of Iowa is dangling incentives in a long-shot bid for the team.

The Moda Center was completed in 1995 and originally named the Rose Garden. The arena supplanted Veterans Memorial Coliseum as the city’s premier sports and concert venue.

In addition to the Blazers, the Portland Fire will soon call Moda Center home as its inaugural WNBA season begins in May. The arena also hosts major concerts, including the Wu-Tang Clan, Cardi B and Pearl Jam in recent years. However, some artists such as Taylor Swift and Coldplay have bypassed Portland in favor of making tour stops in Seattle.

Officials hope the renovation can be completed by the time Moda Center hosts the 2030 NCAA Women’s Final Four. The arena generates an estimated $670 million in annual economic impact and nearly 4,500 jobs, according to a joint statement from state and local leaders.

It wasn’t immediately clear which architecture firm is designing the renovation. GBD Architects has designed past Moda Center upgrades, including new suites, concession areas and retail and concourse spaces. But a spokeswoman for the firm said GBD is not involved this time.

The renovation push comes as the 1803 Fund and Albina Vision Trust work to remake the neighborhood around the Moda Center. In December, the fund announced it had purchased two groups of properties, including grain silos between the arena and the Willamette River, for $70 million.

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The city of Portland is preparing to offer developers $7 million in incentives to convert vacant office space into multifamily housing.

Prosper Portland will administer the pilot program, which was first announced in May. It’s one part of the city’s strategy to reduce its massive stock of vacant office space, which totaled more than 9 million square feet during the third quarter, according to CBRE.

Mayor Keith Wilson, in remarks given during a Multifamily NW event on Oct. 16, said the funding would likely go to only a few office-to-housing conversion projects.

“We’re not going to spread that peanut butter thin,” Wilson said.

Funding may be awarded in the next four to six weeks, Prosper Portland spokesman Shawn Uhlman said Monday.

Funding for the pilot program is expected to come from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) through an intergovernmental agreement with Prosper Portland.

Limited available funding, approximately $7 million, will support two to three pilot projects, Elliott Kozuch, the city’s spokesman for community and economic development, stated in an email.

City officials are looking for projects that are ready to go.

“The initial pilot projects are expected to both be development-ready and provide access to detailed project data … and participate in an embodied carbon study with PCEF and Prosper Portland,” Kozuch stated.

The conversion incentive grew out of recommendations from the Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup that was convened by Wilson and Gov. Tina Kotek in the spring.

The City Council still must agree to an adjustment to the PCEF’s Climate Investment Plan to allow the funding to be used, and to increase the allocation beyond the pilot phase.

Prosper Portland’s board approved guidelines for the program on Oct. 8.

“Portland faces the dual challenge of historically high office vacancy rates and a shortage of affordable and middle-income housing,” Prosper Portland Executive Director Cornell Wesley wrote to the board.

Public officials have lauded office-to-residential conversions as a solution to empty urban office space, but getting those projects to construction has proved difficult. Conversion costs are significant: Building codes require stronger seismic protection in residences. Floor plates designed for an office can poorly suit an apartment building. And features including staircases, windows, heating and cooling systems, and elevators may need to be rethought or relocated.

Sarah Zahn, director of development for Security Properties and a member of the governmental work group, said it makes sense to give large amounts of funding to a few projects.

“It’s good they recognize it’s going to take a substantial investment to do a project like this,” Zahn said.

The program should interest developers, said Ezra Hammer, a shareholder at Portland-based law firm Jordan Ramis.

“Is free money good?” he said. “Yes, free money is good.”

A successful conversion project could spur more of the kind, Hammer said.

“The real value is you get the projects going, but you prove the concept in the market,” he said.

The incentive will be structured as a forgivable 10-year loan at 2 percent interest. One-tenth of the principal balance of the loan would be forgiven each year. Rents must remain affordable to renters at 60 percent to 120 percent of area median income. The affordability requirement will make apartments available to a broad swath of renters but could limit developers’ potential upside.

“This targeted investment not only accelerates the delivery of new housing units but also advances Portland’s climate action and housing production goals in tandem,” Wesley told the Prosper Portland board.

So far, prior to the incentives taking effect, two conversion projects have moved forward in Portland. A project team plans to convert the Oregon Casket Building, at 403 N.W. Fifth Ave. in Old Town, into a 25,000-square-foot mixed-use building with 34 residential units and retail space.

The second conversion project involves the Falcon Building, at 321 N.W. Glisan St. It previously held 85,500 square feet of office space and is on track to become 59 units of middle-income housing.

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President Donald Trump‘s announced deployment of the Oregon National Guard to protect federal facilities in Portland focuses attention on a corner of the South Waterfront that has already seen significant protests this year.

Protests have coalesced at 4310 S. Macadam Ave., where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leases an 18,300-square-foot building. By chance, the ICE facility is located across a narrow driveway from a Tesla dealership where protesters gathered throughout the spring and summer to voice objections to CEO Elon Musk’s role in federal government cuts.

Trump’s plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops has galvanized opposition in the state. Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on Monday, seeking to block Trump from federalizing the National Guard members.

“Putting our own military on our streets is an abuse of power and a disservice to our communities and our service members,” Rayfield stated in a news release.

The planned troop deployment caught the attention of Portland’s business community. Anyeley Hallova, founder of developer Adre, said the narrative of Portland streets as out of control — often driven by video from 2020 protests — was false.

“It’s very apparent to me and other leaders in Portland that this is a very deliberate action to come into a peaceful city that’s really on the rise and doing well,” Hallova said in a video posted to social media. “Everything that’s being said about our city is incorrect. The pictures that are being used are over five years old.”

As night fell on Monday, about 30 protesters peacefully demonstrated along the sidewalk at the ICE facility. Local and federal law enforcement personnel monitored the protesters but did not interfere or interact with them. Roads remained open, although a protest encampment occupied a portion of the sidewalk.

The ICE building is owned by the Lindquist Family Limited Partnership, led by longtime local developer Stuart Lindquist. The low-rise office structure, on 1.1 acres, was completed in 2013.

The city has initiated a land-use investigation into whether immigrants are being detained at the facility for longer periods than allowed by city zoning.

Lindquist declined to comment when reached on Monday, and did not respond to written questions. He has long been part of the city’s real estate ecosystem. He began building homes in West Portland in the 1960s and then moved into other real estate sectors.

Separately, Lindquist is part of the development group that has proposed to redevelop Centennial Mills, on the Northwest Portland waterfront. The three-building mixed-use project would hold 272 residential units and four retail spaces. The Portland Design Commission’s potential approval for that project is pending.

Protests began at the ICE building on June 2, according to the state’s lawsuit. Protesters briefly erected a temporary barrier that blocked the facility’s driveway, but it was quickly cleared by Portland police.

The controversy surrounding the ICE building adds to the strange tableau in the South Waterfront, where its neighbors include the Telsa dealership and an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant. To the north is the former Zidell Marine land purchased by the Portland Diamond Project for a potential Major League Baseball stadium site.

In between, the neighborhood is dominated by a series of high-rise condo and apartment towers, alongside sprawling medical offices owned by Oregon Health and Science University, a major employer and anchor in South Portland.

OHSU did not answer questions about how the protests and potential troop deployment are affecting its South Waterfront sites. But in a prepared statement, the medical group wrote: “OHSU is actively monitoring the situation relative to impacts to OHSU operations. OHSU is committed to a safe, peaceful environment for our patients, students and staff.”

The South Portland Neighborhood Association did not respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.

Police made 25 arrests between June 11 and June 19 stemming from protests at the facility. No arrests have been made since June 19, according to the lawsuit. But separately, Portland police stated that two arrests were made Sunday. The Oregonian/OregonLive on Monday reported additional arrests of protesters who allegedly pointed a laser at a military helicopter.

The protests, “with some limited exceptions, have been relatively small and sedate,” according to Rayfield’s lawsuit. “And the protests bear no resemblance to the substantially larger and more turbulent protests in 2020 near the federal courthouse in Portland.”

Portland police have even stood down a 50-officer Rapid Response Team because it was not needed, according to the lawsuit.

The state’s lawsuit also expressed concern that the military presence would cause an “economic chill.” In previous urban troop deployments in California and in Washington, D.C., foot traffic dropped, and economic activity was reduced, according to the lawsuit.

Mitch Green, a veteran and District 4 city councilor, criticized what he called the Trump administration’s “unlawful designs for Portland” in a video posted to social media on Monday.

Mayor Keith Wilson was joined on Monday at a press conference by other mayors from the Portland-metro area. He pointed to the state’s lawsuit against the troop deployment as the key to Oregon’s strategy to head off the move.

“The number of troops that we want or need is zero,” Wilson said. Portland would accept federal help, particularly with housing and health care costs, he added. But “this deployment isn’t something we’ve asked for,” he said.

The state’s case was assigned to federal District Court Judge Michael H. Simon, who held a conference call between the parties on Monday. Simon said he will hear Oregon’s motion at 10 a.m. on Friday.

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The city of Portland this week launched a national search for a new city administrator, more than two and half years after voters approved an overhaul of the city’s government.

Mayor Keith Wilson will hire the administrator, a new role for Portland. The candidate must be confirmed by the City Council, which was expanded by the same 2022 ballot measure.

“Our city administrator will set the tone for Portland,” Wilson said in a prepared statement. “They will inspire and guide city staff, deliver high-quality services that Portlanders can trust and help us solve our biggest challenges.”

The city administrator will oversee an $8.6 billion budget and 6,800 city employees.

The job pays between $284,000 and $393,000. Wilson encouraged candidates to , when application reviews will begin. The selection process will include multiple rounds of interviews with city leaders, staff and community partners.

Wilson stated that he anticipates selecting a city administrator this fall, with the goal that the administrator will begin work late this year or early in 2026.

The administrator will take over from Michael Jordan, who plans to retire at the end of this year after serving as interim administrator during the city government’s transition.

“My assignment is clear: handing off the keys to a city government that’s ready to deliver for Portlanders,” Jordan said. “I’m excited for the next city administrator to lead our dedicated team in writing Portland’s next chapter.”

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Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson have announced a city initiative to usher in the development of 5,000 new housing units as an early action of their Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup that was launched earlier this year.

A proposed Portland ordinance will go before the Revenue Committee in early June and then the City Council, according to city spokesman Cody Bowman. If passed by the City Council, the ordinance would waive System Development Charges (SDCs) in Portland until either 5,000 housing units are built or three years pass.

The city of Portland has applications for projects totaling over 6,000 housing units in the queue; however, many projects don’t move forward because their costs are slightly too high for developers to attain financing, according to a press release.

The Oregon System Development Charges Study, the press release states, found that the average total SDC charges for projects in Oregon is roughly $15,000, and can be as high as $50,000. These charges can be the equivalent of 3 percent to 6 percent of the total development cost.

On March 6, Kotek and Wilson formed the Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup, which was convened to recommend potential actions to facilitate more multifamily projects in Portland. The proposed ordinance originated from one of the draft recommendations.

The initiative is intended to be an expedient action that lowers developers’ costs during the crisis.

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