Portland Diamond Project (MLB) | Proposed

[subterranean]

It would be pretty rad if a spur of the Orange line eventually ran up Naito/Front to access this area and eventually continuing on to St. Johns.

Anyway, I'll be following this one closely. I miss pro baseball.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by subterranean

It would be pretty rad if a spur of the Orange line eventually ran up Naito/Front to access this area and eventually continuing on to St. Johns.

Anyway, I'll be following this one closely. I miss pro baseball.

That would work except for the whole crossing the Willamette out by St Johns.

[subterranean]

Let’s commandeer the heavy rail bridge. Problem solved.

[tworivers]

Originally Posted by subterranean

It would be pretty rad if a spur of the Orange line eventually ran up Naito/Front to access this area and eventually continuing on to St. Johns.

With the speed at which Portland is moving these days, that project could be finished by 2075, just in time for the collapse of civilization. /s

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by tworivers

With the speed at which Portland is moving these days, that project could be finished by 2075, just in time for the collapse of civilization. /s

Pretty optimistic there, tworivers. You really think we'll make it that long?

[maccoinnich]

Portland Diamond Project pulls $80M offer for PPS Major League Baseball stadium site



The people behind an effort to bring Major League Baseball to Portland no longer want to transform the centrally-located headquarters of Portland Public Schools into a stadium, baseball backers announced Wednesday.

The reason? The Portland Diamond Project's leaders say they want to clear the way for the Albina Vision Trust, a group that aims to build more affordable housing in the city.

"Although we were initially drawn to this property for its close-in location, access to transportation and its potential to be transformative to the east bank of the Willamette, it became apparent to us that the Albina Vision Trust's board of directors has a long-range plan for the building and the immediate area that will serve the overall community in a very meaningful way," Portland Diamond Project founder and CEO Craig Cheek said in a press release. "Albina Vision's focus on diversity and social equity is aligned with our mission, and we are putting our full support behind it."

...continues at the Oregonian.

[pylon]

^follow-on article to the above^
https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...d_project.html

Portland Diamond Project will announce preferred MLB stadium site by end of month
Updated Nov 8, 11:08 AM; Posted Nov 8, 11:00 AM
By John Canzano
The Oregonian/OregonLive

A lot of people are asking me about the latest news on the The Portland Diamond Project. The effort to bring Major League Baseball to Portland starts with a stadium, right?

Here's what I know:

-- The Portland Diamond Project withdrew its offer on the Portland Public Schools site. It was 13.5 acres. It was a great site, and would have been easily executable, but there was push back from some community groups and the PDP decided it had better options that also respected the wishes of those groups. I wouldn't view the pull back on the PPS site as anything more than the Portland Diamond Project abandoning the offer and zeroing in on their preferred site.

-- I've learned that the Portland Diamond Project has already secured land rights outside the City of Portland. It's a back-up site, however. The intention of the group is to build inside the city limits. I'll try to nail down what that back-up site is, but my best hunch points toward something on the river inside the city limits of Milwaukie.

-- The Diamond Project earlier made a preliminary bid for industrial property in Northwest Portland owned by ESCO Corp., which was snapped up by other developers for $33 million. They were also interested in city-owned Terminal One., but it was sold to Lithia Motors for $11.1 million.

-- The PDP will unveil and announce their agreement on their preferred site this month, I'm told. So that's roughly three weeks maximum. That announcement is going to be made in the month of November. Simple process of elimination given the sites that have already been reported/eliminated leaves city-owned Terminal Two as a strong possibility. It's on the bank of the Willamette River, northwest of the Fremont Bridge. I don't have that confirmed. Purely educated conjecture. But it would be a great site and that's what I know there.

-- I'm also told from people in the ballpark design world that the preferred site is unlike anything that has ever been done. That's exciting. But I want to see some renderings before I go all in on that. When I get them, I'll give them to you here. Until then, I'm thinking translucent roof? Natural grass? You?

-- There is a third site in play. Probably another back-up site. It's being handled very hush-hush, however. That tells me it's probably already tied up in some other way. I'm looking hard at other large plots of possibly available real estate in the Portland city limits. The 33-acre plot owned by Zidell Yards comes immediately to mind. Especially since they're on record as having already met with the Portland Diamond Project. It's directly on the Willamette and makes great use of the Tilikum Bridge. A city official told me the Zidell family is having extensive meetings with Zidell Yards this week. The development plan that the city and Zidell had teamed up on originally is in serious jeopardy. If that can't be rectified this week, I expect it becomes an attractive option for Portland's ballpark.

More as I know it...

-end of article-

[PdX Farr]

As a resident of Milwaukie, I cannot think of a piece of land on the river within the city limits that would not only have been sold but that could also fit a stadium. There is a very small area that is in the city limits on the river. Any ideas on where?

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by PdX Farr

As a resident of Milwaukie, I cannot think of a piece of land on the river within the city limits that would not only have been sold but that could also fit a stadium. There is a very small area that is in the city limits on the river. Any ideas on where?

That surprised me as well. Looking at Google Earth, the only place with single land ownership would be a portion of the Waverly golf course. That would not seem ideal to me given the road network around there.

[subterranean]

Elevator logistics aside, what about near the zoo?

Edit: rethinking this based on a variety of factors, including shitty roads.

[green_man]

Delta Park, anyone? It's easily accessible via MAX and I-5, and much of it is currently occupied with retail space that's more or less redundant with Jantzen Beach just a short distance away.

[PdX Farr]

Originally Posted by green_man

Delta Park, anyone? It's easily accessible via MAX and I-5, and much of it is currently occupied with retail space that's more or less redundant with Jantzen Beach just a short distance away.

If the discussion was a nfl stadium, maybe. But that location is not a good fit for mlb and the amount of games to be played. It’s too far from the city center and the traffic is terrible to begin with out that way.

[pylon]

I like what San Diego did with park placement-
right down town


and near the water.


both pics from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petco_Park

The more multi-purpose they can make it (e.g., concerts), the less of a giant downtown graveyard it'll be when a game's not playing.
note: in the above pic the green grass in the lower right is the free "park at the park".

[RED_PDXer]

I'm curious. Are baseball fields used for much else, like concerts?

[Derek]

Petco Park is basically used year round. Concerts, motocross, golf, soccer, monster trucks, conventions etc.

[PdX Farr]

I’m also pretty sure that a MLB stadium could host bigger soccer games that would require a larger crowd than what Providence park can hold as well.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by Derek

Petco Park is basically used year round. Concerts, motocross, golf, soccer, monster trucks, conventions etc.

I'm guessing that this stadium will need a rain cover then.

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...s-in-play.html

Portland baseball stadium announcement expected; port terminal site remains in play
Updated 2:13 PM; Posted 2:00 PM
By Elliot Njus enjus@oregonian.com

The group seeking to lure a baseball team to Portland is expected to announce Thursday that it’s reached a tentative deal to buy land for a stadium, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned. The leading candidate appears to be the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2, a marine cargo terminal in Northwest Portland.

Representatives for the Portland Diamond Project haven’t disclosed their final site, but only Terminal 2 remains on the table among potential locations that were the subject of serious negotiations.

The Port has been in talks with the Portland Diamond Project for months, but both parties have declined to speak publicly about the negotiations under terms of a nondisclosure agreement signed in May.

Still unclear is how the ownership group would pay for a site and its redevelopment. The group has named some investors — including Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Grammy Award winner Ciara, Wilson’s wife — and it would plan to tap up to $150 million in state-issued bonds that would be paid back with income taxes from team salaries. Retired Nike executive Craig Cheek, former state Sen. Jason Atkinson and former Trail Blazers announcer Mike Barrett are Portland Diamond Project’s managing partners.

...(continues)

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/news...ect-has-d.html

Portland Diamond Project has agreement to build ballpark at NW Portland marine terminal (renderings)
By Elliot Njus | The Oregonian/OregonLive | Posted November 29, 2018 at 12:28 PM | Updated November 29, 2018 at 12:53 PM

The Portland Diamond Project announced Thursday it had a deal to build a baseball stadium for a major-league team at the Port of Portland's Terminal 2 in Northwest Portland.

The expansive 53-acre site sits in an industrial district north of the Fremont Bridge. The group described its deal with the Port of Portland as an "agreement in principle," though a sale would require the approval of the port's governing commission.

"We believe this has the potential to be a transformative landmark project for this city," Craig Cheek, the group's president, said in a statement. "Building an iconic, state-of-the-art ballpark along the Willamette River will catalyze economic development and capture great views of both the urban scale of the city and regional character of the Pacific Northwest."

...(continues - more renderings!)

[subterranean]

Please be real, please happen...