FILE - The Moda Center, left, in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 4, 2025. Portland city leaders are negotiating with the Portland Trail Blazers over possible renovations to the arena, as leaders consider awarding development rights to the nonprofit Albina Vision Trust.
Brooke Herbert / OPB
Portland City Councilors unanimously voted Thursday to enter negotiations with a nonprofit focused on restoring the city’s historically Black neighborhood to develop property next to the Moda Center.
Albina Vision Trust is interested despite the uncertainty swirling around the arena that houses Portland’s NBA and WNBA teams. The proposal directs the city administrator to work with the group to redevelop city-owned property near the arena.
“In Portland, we’re always forced between making false choices,” Winta Yohannes, executive director of Albina Vision Trust, told city councilors ahead of the vote. “We either talk about equity endlessly with no action, or are asked to rebrand crumbs as fortunes. We can reject both.”
City Councilors commended Albina Vision Trust for the work they’ve already done in inner North and Northeast Portland. The group and its partners are working to rebuild what’s known as Lower Albina into a business and cultural district that serves those who historically resided in the area, namely Black Portlanders.
Now, leaders with Albina Vision Trust will put together a proposal for how to develop the parcels, which currently house two parking garages.
The Moda Center is owned by the city, but the Trail Blazers and its event management arm, Rip City Management, are the anchor tenants. The team’s new owner Tom Dundon is seeking upwards of $600 million in taxpayer money for renovations and upgrades to the arena, with an unspoken threat that Dundon could try to move the team to another city if negotiations fall short of his expectations.
Portland’s Rose Quarter district features two of the state’s most recognizable buildings — the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum — and is part of the historic Lower Albina District of inner North Portland.
In the middle of last century the neighborhood was a bustling business hub for Portland’s Black community. However, the city used racist urban renewal policies to displace Black homes and business owners to build Memorial Coliseum, as well as to construct Interstate 5 and expand Legacy Emanuel hospital.
“Lower Albina was once the heart of Portland’s Black community, and that has to be said on the record because that is the subtext that is encompassing this conversation,” District 1 councilor Candace Avalos said at an August meeting when the proposals passed out of committee.
Avalos said government-led development decisions opened the door to the destruction of Black wealth in the city.
“AVT has spent years developing a restorative vision for Lower Albina,” Avalos said, “grounded in repairing those historic harms and creating a new model of what development can look like.”
The discussion comes shortly after the City Council agreed to a term sheet with the Trail Blazers about the Moda Center. It’s a precursor to city councilors voting on $120 million for arena renovations. The negotiations have been contentious as some councilors — and many Oregonians — wonder why the cash-strapped city, rather than the billionaire owner of the Blazers, is being asked to fund the renovations.
For his part, Dundon has said publicly that the ownership group he put together is already investing more than $4 billion by purchasing the NBA team. So far, Dundon has not shown interest in purchasing or developing the land adjacent to the arena.
Meanwhile, Albina Vision Trust and its partner organizations already have multiple projects underway in the area. The group is taking over ownership of the former Portland Public Schools headquarters. Additionally, the group has already opened a housing development in the area. The group is a major partner of 1803 Fund, which is working to redevelop the waterfront neighborhood near the Moda Center.
“I want to make sure that we support and spend our public dollars on year-round utilization,” councilor Loretta Smith said ahead of Thursday’s vote. “By creating a lively district, the area becomes a destination of non-event days, ensuring the district remains active, safe, and vibrant throughout the year rather than solely during games or during concerts.”
OPB reporter Alex Zielinski contributed to this story.
