The Portland Trail Blazers and the nonprofit Albina Vision Trust are joining forces to revitalize Portland’s lower Albina neighborhood.
Portland's Moda Center will be part of the revitalization of the Lower Albina neighborhood. Sunday, Mar. 31, 2024.
Kyra Buckley / OPB
For much of the 20th century, the area was home to the majority of the city’s Black population. But the neighborhood was decimated in the 1950s and 1960s when scores of homes were torn down to make way for Interstate 5.
Now the Albina Vision Trust is building momentum to restore the area. By joining forces with the Portland Trail Blazers, the trust hopes the Rose Quarter and its two large sports arenas, the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum, can serve as a hub for neighborhood revitalization.
“The Trail Blazers and Albina Vision Trust are united by the fundamental belief that standing shoulder to shoulder, business and community can band together to solve our city’s biggest problems,” said Winta Yohannes, the trust’s executive director.
The trust has already generated substantial momentum for change. It helped the Oregon Department of Transportation win $450 million to cover part of I-5. It also managed to get Portland Public Schools to agree to sell its large headquarters to the trust. That promises to provide 10 acres of land on which to build affordable housing.
A new proposal for the I-5 Rose Quarter improvement project with three main modifications from previous design concepts, intended to reconnect the local street grid and support neighborhood access and environments.
Via I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project
The Moda Center attracts nearly 1.5 million visitors each year, generating $600 million in regional economic activity. The announcement of a new partnership between the Blazers and the Albina Vision Trust, called the Albina Rose Alliance, adds one of Oregon’s best-known sports franchises to the trust’s list of allies.
“Rip City is a part of the fabric of our community, and reinvestment in Moda Center and the Rose Quarter can be foundational to supporting community-led restorative development efforts throughout Lower Albina,” said Dewayne Hankins with the Blazers.
The trust hopes the new partnership will ensure Albina is redeveloped in a cohesive, aspirational and community-driven manner for the benefit of historically displaced Portlanders.
The I-5 freeway is seen through the fencing at the back of Harriet Tubman Middle School (left) in North Portland, April 9, 2021. ODOT's proposed Rose Quarter expansion would bring the freeway even closer to the school grounds.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
