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I'm not pulling for any new major league sports teams coming to Portland. Just saying that NHL seems a LOT more likely and practical than MLB or NFL, either of which would require a $1-2 billion dollar stadium, new highways, and a massive new infrastructure project in addition to the hugely more expensive buy-in for MLB or NFL expansion teams.
As for the Blazers? They are Paul Allen's team. I would expect that if an NHL team comes to Portland it would be in some sort of ownership/partnership with Paul Allen involved. It doesn't matter whether CJ McCollum wants to share space with NHL players. If Paul Allen wants it then it will happen.
I can't imagine any scenario where an NHL team coming to Portland wouldn't make Paul Allen a bunch more money as it is his MODA center.
In any event, the minor league hockey fan base for the Winterhawks is an entirely different fan base than would emerge for an NHL team. Look at what has happened with the Golden Knights in Vegas. People who have never even heard of the winterhawks would be driving up from Eugene for NHL games.
All good points. Yes, you are correct that NHL makes the most sense. I just don't see it ever happening anytime soon if at all. BTW - From what I understand Paul Allen doesn't give a fig about hockey, but that's not to say if there was crazy money to be made he wouldn't reconsider, although I wonder if he'd rather put down his stake in Seattle.
The Portland Diamond Project has already announced they have owners ready and they are located outside of the state. They also mentioned the ownership group includes local investors. Plus their not asking a dime from the public.
Regarding the stadium size, they are strategically designing a stadium that will hold about 32,000 people because baseball stadiums are moving towards smaller more intimate buildings that center more on restaurants and bars inside. Portland has changed a lot in the last 15 years which was when we almost got the Expos. Our growth rate is among the top-10 in the country, and we've moved from market No. 25 to No. 22 in that span. Also, like I said baseball has shifted from constructing mammoth multi-purpose stadiums to building cozy 36,000-seat urban hot spots. MLB wants young, vibrant, growing, good-looking markets, and Portland happens to be all of those things. These out of town billionare owners whoever they are know this.
On top of that you don’t need to sell out every game. The average attendance in the MLB is about 22k ppl which Portland EASILY can do. For god sakes the Timbers have a years long season ticket wait list and have sold out their games for 7 years straight and counting. The Thorns drew 16,000 to a women's soccer match last weekend. Let’s not get started on the Blazers their place is constantly packed and is known for one of the best fan bases in the league. This area is known for loving sports even following them blindly and having incredible support.
What’s not mentioned also is although they offered 80M for the PPS site which is valued at 100M they’ve also thrown in the Banfield Pet Site on 82nd Ave that PPS can take. That building is worth 27M and is only 10 years old and I might add is a very beautiful looking place. So in all, pps is actually getting over market value total in the unsolicited offer. Not only that, they also are willing to fund “gyms, Fields, books,..” for the foreseeable future..
Personally for a notoriously cash stripped school district that’s an unbelievable offer to pass on. And to only move to 82nd where I might add a lot of the demographics of the district is trending to is a great site not that far from where they currently are.
Whoever these owners/investors are seem EXTREMELY committed in gambling on this market. They’ve spent already millions on studies that tell them these things and I don’t think they got rich by by being lucky. They know what their doing.
While Portland may not have many Fortune 500 headquarters, it has a growing number of corporate field offices. When the head honchos come to town, they would probably enjoy a night at the ballpark.
While Portland may not have many Fortune 500 headquarters, it has a growing number of corporate field offices. When the head honchos come to town, they would probably enjoy a night at the ballpark.
What I am hearing you say is that Portland voters should pay multi-billions of dollars for a stadium to entertain occassional visitors who are going to come to Portland whether they can see a baseball game or not?
I'm just mentioning Portland's propensity of corporate field offices to those who fret over Portland's lack of Fortune 500 headquarters.
Unless the field offices are able to persuade the mothership to take part in a sponsorship role they really don't have any bearing on the financial viability of a club in Portland.
Purchasing a Skybox is one thing, having an office outing is quite another.
The Portland Diamond Project has already announced they have owners ready and they are located outside of the state. They also mentioned the ownership group includes local investors. Plus their not asking a dime from the public.
Regarding the stadium size, they are strategically designing a stadium that will hold about 32,000 people because baseball stadiums are moving towards smaller more intimate buildings that center more on restaurants and bars inside. Portland has changed a lot in the last 15 years which was when we almost got the Expos. Our growth rate is among the top-10 in the country, and we've moved from market No. 25 to No. 22 in that span. Also, like I said baseball has shifted from constructing mammoth multi-purpose stadiums to building cozy 36,000-seat urban hot spots. MLB wants young, vibrant, growing, good-looking markets, and Portland happens to be all of those things. These out of town billionare owners whoever they are know this.
On top of that you don’t need to sell out every game. The average attendance in the MLB is about 22k ppl which Portland EASILY can do. For god sakes the Timbers have a years long season ticket wait list and have sold out their games for 7 years straight and counting. The Thorns drew 16,000 to a women's soccer match last weekend. Let’s not get started on the Blazers their place is constantly packed and is known for one of the best fan bases in the league. This area is known for loving sports even following them blindly and having incredible support.
What’s not mentioned also is although they offered 80M for the PPS site which is valued at 100M they’ve also thrown in the Banfield Pet Site on 82nd Ave that PPS can take. That building is worth 27M and is only 10 years old and I might add is a very beautiful looking place. So in all, pps is actually getting over market value total in the unsolicited offer. Not only that, they also are willing to fund “gyms, Fields, books,..” for the foreseeable future..
Personally for a notoriously cash stripped school district that’s an unbelievable offer to pass on. And to only move to 82nd where I might add a lot of the demographics of the district is trending to is a great site not that far from where they currently are.
Whoever these owners/investors are seem EXTREMELY committed in gambling on this market. They’ve spent already millions on studies that tell them these things and I don’t think they got rich by by being lucky. They know what their doing.
Thank you! This answers some lingering questions I had about this project. That's what I got from what I've been reading on it too. Now it makes a lot more sense. The size of the stadium, the relocation site for the school district HQ and the details on the investors seem to add up. I'm leaning towards this is going to happen here if it's like I think it is, which it seems it is. Especially when they're willing to go through all the additional hoops for this on an unsolicited offer. It wouldn't bother me one bit if it didn't happen though. No skin off my back.
Thank you! This answers some lingering questions I had about this project. That's what I got from what I've been reading on it too. Now it makes a lot more sense. The size of the stadium, the relocation site for the school district HQ and the details on the investors seem to add up. I'm leaning towards this is going to happen here if it's like I think it is, which it seems it is. Especially when they're willing to go through all the additional hoops for this on an unsolicited offer. It wouldn't bother me one bit if it didn't happen though. No skin off my back.
I think it’ll happen too. Even if Portland Public Schools doesn’t take the offer, I believe the NW Portland site offer will be accepted since the company that owns it no longer do much with the site and even have been looking to offload it. I think the Portland Baseball Group PERFERS the school district site since that offer seemed to magically be leaked. I think because of the proximity to mass transit and the Moda Center parking garages is what makes it more desirable for them.
Nevertheless I think ultimately they would be happy with either site and that’s why most likely the stadium
Will be built in NW Portland
It will come down to the negotiation. They'll want a win-win situation for all.
This wasn't a leak though because it involved public property and not private. When public money is involved like a public school head quarters or a school bus accident then that branch of the city has a communication director or public relations coordinator to release this information to the media, so that the public is informed. It's the people's money were talking about with public schools. It was the public school headquarters if I remember right?
When a private investor approaches the city and says we want to put a baseball stadium here and relocate your headquarters to a newer building nearby and we'll pay you market rate from your property, possibly more within reason, and go through zoning and all the other stuff then they likely mean it. When they say they have another property with an offer on it then that says we're already offering you a great deal but don't get greedy since it's known it's their preferred spot.
The school board being educators said fine. We'll deal, but we're going to get an independent estimate to know where we stand if you low balled us. Which they did at 90 M when it's estimated at 110 M. They probably want to come in under 100 M. If the school board gets another estimate and it's of a higher value they may be able to get more money for it, or pass on the offer if they don't think they can do business with them.
With the way the city deals with property I'm really wondering. I just read they sold the Wapato jail to the private developer for 5 M already when it was built for 58 M and they had no contingencies because it sounds like they don't want to put people who need it most further away from their resources.
They also rejected a previous offer from a homeless organization, I think it was called Hope House, for 7 M. They wanted to turn it into a homeless shelter. The private developer originally offered 10 M then changed it to 5 M and still got it. He had other plans for it but is now thinking about redeveloping it for a homeless shelter too saying he was inspired by another facility where the resources were moved there like in a similar building.
I don't know. The city didn't sell it to him for that intention after all which is honestly disappointing because it means he likely isn't going to do that but he'll give it the old college try. Instead, Columbia donated 1.5 M to set up a big triage tent like a three ring circus downtown under the Broadway bridge near the resource centers in collaboration with the city. I face palmed at reading about that. One more chance for a Wapato Jail homeless shelter? Maybe, says new co-owner | OregonLive.com
Do they live stream the city council meetings here? I need to start watching some of them to get what is really going on.
Summer is coming and if it was like last summer I know what else is coming. The rotations of homeless in the neighborhoods with the people reporting the camps to the city. Report camps here Then the police post a notice for them to move out. It keeps the camps moving every two weeks so they move across the bridge or into another neighborhood, and then more campers come, and the cycle starts all over again. Along with the scouts for thieving gangs, and the hundreds of needles everywhere after they clean up, and the criddlers jumping in your bushes all freaked out, scavengers in your trash and around your house, drug seeking addicts, a sea of beggars along the water front, public defecation in elevators and store fronts, that urine and garbage Eau de toilette of the sleeping street guy on the TriMet, increased crime and graffiti, ect. At least that's some of all what I witnessed here last summer. Portland's gritty grime and I finally understood that old Portland grunge scene some.
There's an article in the Portland Business Jornal in the Sport news on the Diamond project.
You need a $100+ subscription to access it. Nice turn around time on the exclusive assignment guys!
It names the guys involved and they have a clever themed baseball picture together for the article. It's an enclosed field of 32,000 seats and 8,000 mixed income and mixed use commercial with housing units and will be The Largest housing development in Portland. I know the city likes that when there's a 28,000 unit housing shortage currently. We can't keep up with demand. I can smell the fresh cut green grass of a baseball field in 2022 and I'm excited to see the designs! I hope I'm not disappointed.
The school is going to play hardball knowing that too and that's alright.
There's another proposal for this section and it's a moonshot to the heart of the issues in the city. I think it's an old Portland one then. I'm not certain. It's called Albania Project or something like that. I'm still trying to figure out how this connects to the Rose Quarter one too. I liked how some Architects had some pretty good transportation solutions to address growth in this area connecting Union Station and that can lead into our railway history here. I saw real promise and vision in that if he knows how to straighten it all out and they use it to bring in more tourism.
The West Hills don't like their views getting blocked all the way to the baseball field. That's the only opposition I've seen there but the empty Industrial yards are growing. Booming with growth to meet demands on the waterfront in the urban core. The NW has the best walkability and the Pearl District was such a success. If they structure their 24 acre Diamond Project city in the NW like that they'll make a lot of people happy that move in there and live around there.
I suspect the designs for the East side are more exciting and already have all the transportation options, but it's around 13 acres so I'd imagine the building will be taller there. A fewl east side mirrored glass sky scrapers and an interactive play park with sculptures. The stadium could have Portland baseball history.
I think it's going to be the Oakland Athletics. Portland is a Sports town with a history of sportswear. So Portland Athletics sounds right. The other option is Tampa Bay Rays but that doesn't make sense unless we can tie it to the Portland coast nautical theme somehow? Tickets to the Coastal aquarium for families? That could be good for day trip tourism too.
Another thought. How perfect would it be to have The Pearl and The Diamond project next to each other in the NW? I think someone called it upthread already; another better version of Pearl. Except I'd combine it with a retractable roof field. There's this area on South Congress in Austin with Gueros and La Perla and some funky and some fine boutiques, a TOMS shop, some historic live music clubs, even a Yeti cooler shop and patio bar. I imagine The Diamond city Project like this. A mix of NW 23rd and NE Alberta and some Providence Park with patio restaurants and overhanging trees and lights, cool new brewery locations with pop up pizza and beer gardens, and rooftop cafes and bars and some three story SF or NYC housing rows but with easy access to bicycling paths on an extended green loop and several car to go options. I saw Segway rentals in SF, and electric foot scooter rentals in Austin you use an app with, and mopeds rentals in Las Vegas. Since routes don't go there yet.
Last edited by Merry Lee Gather; 04-26-2018 at 10:32 PM..
Reason: After thought
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