Multnomah County is set to invest up to $101.6 million in the planned renovation of the Moda Center. The county’s Board of Commissioners on Thursday adopted a resolution with conditions for the investment, including a deal with the city of Portland and the state of Oregon. The approximately $600 million project is intended to keep the Portland Trail Blazers playing in the arena for the long term.

The resolution’s terms will serve as guideposts for the county and the city as they negotiate a formal agreement with one another as part of final negotiations with the Trail Blazers, a Multnomah County press release states. The city delivered its own draft term sheet to the Trail Blazers last month.

“I’ve heard and agree with the desire that we enter negotiations with strong terms that ensure that this deal is a benefit for our entire community,” Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said during the six-hour board meeting on Thursday.

The county’s terms include the Blazers making a commitment to stay in Portland for at least 20 years, a funding clawback allowing the county to recoup its investment if benchmarks are not met, a project labor agreement for construction, community and neighborhood commitments such as equitable treatment of the Portland Fire in the renovated facility and development rights for parcels adjacent to the Moda Center going to Albina Vision Trust, a revenue stream for the governments contributing to the renovation, protections from cost overruns tied to the renovation or initial ongoing capital costs, and more.

The county’s proposed commitment is for renovation and some initial ongoing capital expenditures. As amended, it removes any county contribution of Business Income Tax (BIT) revenues received from the recent sale of the Trail Blazers. Instead, the county will explore other alternatives such as Motor Vehicle Rental Tax revenue or possibly even increasing the tax rate.

“I appreciate this (option rather than) using the BIT,” Commissioner Meghan Moyer said.

The funding source has been the biggest issue for the commission, Pederson said, adding that she’d like to see more specifics in that regard.

Moyer and Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards expressed concern about the investment amount.

“I hope at the end of the day we end up at a low number,” Brim-Edwards said, adding that the resolution lists the investment as “up to” $101.6 million.

Moyer, who said the resolution was improved, ultimately voted no.

“I’m not going to be supportive of this package because it’s too much and I don’t want the county subsidizing a building we don’t own when we can’t afford to maintain the buildings we do own,” she said.

After the resolution passed, the county’s chief financial officer was directed to bring to the board funding proposals that prioritize using the Motor Vehicle Rental Tax, including the county’s 2.5 percent surcharge, and other tourism tax revenues.

The resolution also has three conditions. These include an updated economic analysis of market conditions, tax revenue projections and long-term costs and benefits; a complete workforce audit of direct and contracted employees for the Trail Blazers and Rip City Management; and a detailed renovation and maintenance plan covering scope, timeline, budget and risk management.

Negotiations between the county, the city and the state of Oregon for an intergovernmental agreement are expected to take place through October. The Multnomah County board is set to vote on the final agreement and related tax code amendments in December.

The Portland City Council will vote on its operator lease term sheet on Wednesday.

The county has hired a professional negotiator to act on its behalf and provide the board with regular updates and reports during the negotiation process.

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A Portland Trail Blazers executive said Thursday that the threat of litigation is casting a pall over negotiations with the city of Portland on paying for Moda Center renovations.

The Trail Blazers have attacked a provision in their current lease that would allow the city of Portland to sue the team for the cost of renovating the Moda Center if the team were to leave the arena when the lease ends in 2030.

Dewayne Hankins, the Trail Blazers president of business operations, decried the “threat of litigation hanging over these negotiations.”

The provision “has been wielded as a weapon, chilling our negotiations,” Hankins said.

Trail Blazers officials and city councilors held a work session Thursday that functioned as a temperature check on negotiations over arena upgrades. The two sides appeared far apart on any agreement to renovate the nearly 31-year-old Moda Center, which the city took ownership of in 2025.

They couldn’t even agree on whether the Trail Blazers were negotiating.

“It sounds like you have walked away from the table a bit,” Councilor Loretta Smith said.

Zandria Conyers, the Trail Blazers’ general counsel, disputed that characterization.

“We’re still at the table,” she said. “We have not walked away from the table.”

Conyers said the draft term sheet the city has circulated is a “nonstarter.”

“It is just not even a document we can respond to,” she added.

The Trail Blazers’ executives ceded little ground, instead taking a maximalist position in council chambers. Hankins reiterated that the team’s ownership group, led by Tom Dundon, would not agree to spend any money to renovate Moda Center.

“Going forward, in order for this deal to make economic sense, the contribution needs to come from the public sector,” Hankins said.

Hankins said the Trail Blazers should get credit for spending nearly $1 billion in the past 30 years on previous Moda Center upgrades and maintenance — even though that spending came under previous ownership.

Councilor Angelita Morillo, who has been a vocal critic of the Blazers’ recent statements, said the team had “moved the goalposts” after the city published a draft term sheet. She also dismissed the Blazers’ fear of litigation.

“They are only sued if they choose to move the team according to the bridge lease,” Morillo said.

A Trail Blazers representative said they had had discussions with potential architects and contractors to renovate the Moda Center. The team has identified $600 million in needed upgrades.

“We have architects and general contractors that we are excited to get to work with,” Hankins said. “We, in fact, had interviews with the city and state by our sides to have those, to pick those and select those, but until we have the funds to pay those architects, we don’t have plans to show you.”

The Oregon Legislature in its previous session passed a bill to supply $365 million in bond funding for Moda Center upgrades. The city has surveyed voters on potentially spending $120 million on the project. Multnomah County is also weighing its contribution.

The City Council is moving forward with public hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, with a vote on the term sheet to follow on Aug. 12. The council plans to vote on a lease agreement in December before bonds can be issued — if the city and the Trail Blazers can play ball.

The post Trail Blazers, city clash over Moda Center renovation funding appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

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.

The post Moda Center debate ramps up appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson on Monday said it’s up to city councilors and the committee governing the Portland Clean Energy Fund to award local funding to the Moda Center renovation.

Supporters of the approximately $600 million project have put together a workable budget, Wilson said. But the ball is in the council and PCEF committee’s court to green-light the city’s share of the renovation, he added.

“We’ve got placeholder items for the funding,” Wilson said. “We still have to go through our councilors. We still have to go through our PCEF committee. They are the final arbiters.”

Wilson’s comments came at the Moda Center on Monday to celebrate the 30-year-old arena hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament beginning Thursday. Wilson sought to project positivity regarding Portland’s capacity to host major events such as March Madness, but he gave no guarantees of city funding.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure that we’ve got available funding, to make sure we can pull this off, but in the end it’s our councilors and our committee members who are in charge of the Portland Clean Energy Fund that will make the final decision,” he said.

Wilson warned that the city risks becoming “flyover country” for big-time sports and concerts if the Moda Center is not renovated. The possibility that Tom Dundon‘s new ownership group and the NBA could move the Portland Trail Blazers to another city has loomed over the public funding debate.

Wilson said he spoke Friday with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, about Portland’s status as an NBA city and aspirations to host a future All-Star Game.

“He was positive,” Wilson said of Silver.

Wilson added that Portland must work to “make sure that this arena is a state-of-the-art home to not only our Blazers but to our (WNBA) Fire and all of the other events that use this home. So, it’s time to update the arena.”

The campaign to fund the Moda Center renovation got a major boost on March 6 with passage of legislation to use $350 million in state revenue backed by income taxes from players and others who work in the Rose Quarter. The speed of the funding legislation was “amazing,” Wilson said.

But the arena project still needs millions of dollars in funding from city and county sources, and backers are marshaling support.

“We’re building a coalition to make sure the Blazers are part of our fabric for years to come,” Wilson said.

Unlike stadiums at the center of debates in some cities, the Moda Center is publicly owned. The city of Portland took ownership of the arena from the Paul Allen estate in 2024.

Jim Etzel, CEO of Sport Oregon, said a major renovation of the arena will ensure that the 2030 NCAA Women’s Final Four isn’t the last major college tournament the Moda Center hosts.

“If it isn’t renovated, we’re off the map,” he said. “Infrastructure wins.”

Organized labor has also supported the Moda Center project push.

“It’s an opportunity for not only creating jobs, but making sure no jobs are lost,” said Robert Camarillo, executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. “The trades are in a bit of a recession right now.

“We’re excited to get some people to work on that renovation when it happens,” he added.

Project supporters hope to see construction begin in 2027 and finish by the end of 2029.

The post Wilson: Local funding no slam dunk for Moda Center project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Interstate 5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project is moving ahead to its next phase with $167 million in state funding, even as some critics question the Oregon Department of Transportation‘s piecemeal approach.

The Oregon Legislature adjourned March 6 with the project’s state funding intact despite shortfalls elsewhere in ODOT‘s budget. The total project is expected to cost approximately $2.1 billion. Currently, available funding totals $479.9 million, according to ODOT Deputy Director Travis Brouwer.

“It is both interesting and heartening to see the Legislature has left this Phase 1B funding intact,” Oregon Transportation Commissioner Phil Chang said Thursday, as the commission met to hear updates on several large-scale projects around the state.

“We’re in a very difficult position,” he added. “There are all kinds of services being delayed. There are all kinds of projects that are not being gotten to so that we can move forward with certain priorities. And it’s been great to be able to do that for the Rose Quarter project.”

Chang also pointed to uncertainty regarding the project’s completion.

“I hope we’re in a position after the 2027 legislative session to continue to do that, but I don’t think we can guarantee that to anyone,” he said.

Phase 1B of the project involves extending a southbound auxiliary lane between the Interstate 84 and Morrison Bridge/Oregon Museum of Science and Industry exits, widening the bridge at the Rose Quarter Transit Center and restoring related infrastructure, and building I-5 seismic upgrades and bridge deck resurfacing.

A $30 million federal Reconnecting Communities grant may be used to acquire rights of way in the corridor, project officials said.

“It is an encouraging signal that the tide is slowly but surely starting to shift at the federal level,” said JT Flowers, senior advisor at Albina Vision Trust.

A project working group has begun meeting monthly. The group includes city of Portland and Metro officials, and representatives from the Portland Trail Blazers, Albina Vision Trust and other groups. The working group has greatly improved collaboration on the project, participants said.

“On our end, we feel more confident than ever about the future of this project and our ability as shared stakeholders to deliver a full project, even if it takes us a bit of time,” Flowers said.

ODOT critics said the agency is fitting Rose Quarter construction phasing into the existing project budget with future funding uncertain.

“The money is still in the Rose Quarter budget, and you are determined to spend it,” said Christopher Smith, co-founder of activist group No More Freeways. “So, you are trying to invent a scope that makes sense for that money, with the plan that you’ll come back and ask the Legislature for more later.”

Smith charged that ODOT is building a “lane to nowhere” with no independent function. ODOT officials disputed that assertion during their presentation, saying independent utility of each phase is part of Federal Highway Administration criteria.

Joe Cortright, an economist and director of Portland-based think tank City Observatory, said ODOT needs a long-term funding plan.

“We’re proceeding on a piecemeal basis to fund individual steps without any clear idea of how we will pay for the whole project,” he said.

But some contractors said the project is providing benefits now.

Dominic Waters, owner of Crossover Construction, a Portland concrete contractor working with general contractor Raimore Construction, said that if the project doesn’t move forward, “less and less minority contractors will actually receive opportunities to do this work.”

The post ODOT advances I-5 Rose Quarter project with $167M appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

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.

The post $600M Moda Center renovation sought to keep Trail Blazers appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The is typically buzzing by Thanksgiving because the turkey-themed holiday marks the start of the NBA season and a return of Blazermania. However, an ongoing labor dispute has caused considerable downturn in development among the area.

The Rose Garden still hosts events and concerts (such as Mumford & Sons and the Trans Siberian Orchestra), though these account for just a few nights each month. Holiday shopping aside, the commercial slowdown in the area is undeniable, and a lack of certainty about an NBA season is leading to grim concern among the Rose Quarter bars, shops and more.

However, hope abounds as a $30.5 million upgrade project to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum was discussed by the Portland City Council last week. It calls for a larger spectator space that would expand the Portland Winterhawks‘ home ice to NHL size (they play in the Western Hockey League), and there are plans to consider energy use among the Rose Quarter as well.

Development news in the area is otherwise scarce. The lockout could lead to an exodus of owners seeking to get out for cents on the dollar, meaning new development would come at a bargain. Meanwhile, though the reduced auto, cycle, and foot traffic of this lockout make for smoother projects, the league’s labor struggles don’t change the fact that it’s winter in Portland—a notoriously wet, cold affair neither concrete truck driver nor flagger enjoys.

The discussion is still open regarding the $30 million update, though it’s nice to see the lockout hasn’t stamped out the hope that business will pick back up. Regardless of what happens with the NBA, it looks like the Rose Quarter will remain active on the Coliseum side. Case in point, it may be easier to schedule construction without an NBA season—a Hawks match tonight (Nov. 22) was moved over to the Garden, and that is likely to happen plenty more with a growing fan base.

In short, no basketball makes for more hockey, which makes for easier Coliseum renovation. Everybody wins! (Well, except Blazers fans…it’ll be interesting to see how many of them turn to hockey and don’t return to the pricier hoops tickets when/if the NBA returns.)

In the meantime, be sure to chime in to the with thoughts on whether $30.5 million would be well spent developing in the Rose Quarter.

The post Rose Quarter development on track, regardless of NBA lockout appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Fans of the Portland Trail Blazers may not ever be able to play basketball like the players, but now they have the chance to live like one.

Local auctioneer Realty Marketing/Northwest will auction off the Helvetia estate of former Portland Trail Blazer and 20-year National Basketball Association veteran Cliff Robinson. The company is accepting sealed bids for the 16.33-acre parcel located west of Hillsboro until May 18.

The reserve price on the property is $1.35 million, but Realty Marketing/Northwest is willing to split the property and accept bids on two different parcels, a 7.78-acre parcel with the house and amenities, as well as an additional 8.55-acre vacant parcel. The reserve price on the 7.78-acre site is $1.28 million and the additional parcel is $75,000.

The estate includes a five-bedroom, four-bath, 5,900-square-foot home designed in 1994 by Soderstrom Architects. The home underwent an extensive remodel in 2004. The property also includes a 50-foot infinity pool, a guesthouse and tennis courts.

Robinson is selling the home to pay back creditors as part of a 2009 bankruptcy. According to court documents, Robinson has $12.4 million in liabilities and about $7.1 million in assets.

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City of Portland officials late last week announced the Portland Trail Blazers organization will let its development rights for the Rose Quarter properties in Northeast Portland expire without submitting a proposal.

According to the Oregonian’s Brad Schmidt, . The organization got a six-month extension from the city in November and was expected to reconvene the project advisory group in late May with a detailed proposal in hand.

But even though it seems like this is another snag in the long-proposed redevelopment of the properties, which I do believe is much needed, I don’t think letting the rights expire is the worst idea.

As many non-development businesses found out during the last commercial real estate cycle, developing property is a good idea in boom years, but when things start to go bad it’s not the easiest business. The Blazers aren’t developers, and although they have the resources in billionaire owner Paul Allen, and a good grasp of the properties at hand, they’re in the business of entertainment – not development.

Much like Con-Way is finding out with its property in Northwest Portland, dreaming up ideas for land you’re not using is a lot of fun, but it’s not easy to actually build and manage something that will sustain through the good times and bad.

Moreover, the project has the eyes and ears of the entire city, and while I’m sure Mayor Sam Adams was thrilled to have a billionaire to work on the private side, the project will have to go through a rigorous process.

The project would receive public money and would involve changes to the historic Memorial Coliseum, so any developer is going to have to know the ins and outs of working with certified minority and women owned businesses, as well as going through design reviews and working with a citizenship known to derail projects. I’m not saying the Blazers couldn’t have hired someone to do this, but if they were looking to hire a (the Blazers were working with Cordish on the JumpTown proposal), I personally wouldn’t have been all that thrilled to see the results.

Stadiums are hard to build these days, and a lot of professional sports teams are turning to redeveloping the surrounding properties. And stadium redevelopments tend to look the same from city to city. Portland has defining assets in both the Rose Garden (a premium stadium) and Memorial Coliseum (a unique glass building encompassing a cement dome). Cookie-cutter redevelopment will not go well here.

The Blazers organization is great, and I believe it has made the right decision here. While dreaming is often a lot of fun, sometimes the best solution is to take a step back and look at true needs. Memorial Coliseum needs to stay and needs improvements. The Rose Quarter properties need better access from the rest of the walkable city in order to entice development and businesses. Let’s do these things first and save the dreaming for later.

The post Rose Quarter properties get needed fresh start appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

City of Portland officials late last week announced the Portland Trail Blazers organization will let its development rights for the Rose Quarter properties in Northeast Portland expire without submitting a proposal.

According to the Oregonian’s Brad Schmidt, . The organization got a six-month extension from the city in November and was expected to reconvene the project advisory group in late May with a detailed proposal in hand.

But even though it seems like this is another snag in the long-proposed redevelopment of the properties, which I do believe is much needed, I don’t think letting the rights expire is the worst idea.

As many non-development businesses found out during the last commercial real estate cycle, developing property is a good idea in boom years, but when things start to go bad it’s not the easiest business. The Blazers aren’t developers, and although they have the resources in billionaire owner Paul Allen, and a good grasp of the properties at hand, they’re in the business of entertainment – not development.

Much like Con-Way is finding out with its property in Northwest Portland, dreaming up ideas for land you’re not using is a lot of fun, but it’s not easy to actually build and manage something that will sustain through the good times and bad.

Moreover, the project has the eyes and ears of the entire city, and while I’m sure Mayor Sam Adams was thrilled to have a billionaire to work on the private side, the project will have to go through a rigorous process.

The project would receive public money and would involve changes to the historic Memorial Coliseum, so any developer is going to have to know the ins and outs of working with certified minority and women owned businesses, as well as going through design reviews and working with a citizenship known to derail projects. I’m not saying the Blazers couldn’t have hired someone to do this, but if they were looking to hire a (the Blazers were working with Cordish on the JumpTown proposal), I personally wouldn’t have been all that thrilled to see the results.

Stadiums are hard to build these days, and a lot of professional sports teams are turning to redeveloping the surrounding properties. And stadium redevelopments tend to look the same from city to city. Portland has defining assets in both the Rose Garden (a premium stadium) and Memorial Coliseum (a unique glass building encompassing a cement dome). Cookie-cutter redevelopment will not go well here.

The Blazers organization is great, and I believe it has made the right decision here. While dreaming is often a lot of fun, sometimes the best solution is to take a step back and look at true needs. Memorial Coliseum needs to stay and needs improvements. The Rose Quarter properties need better access from the rest of the walkable city in order to entice development and businesses. Let’s do these things first and save the dreaming for later.

The post Rose Quarter properties get needed fresh start appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.