[Highkin] Some news: The Blazers and the city of Portland have reached agreement on a 5-year lease extension for the Moda Center as talks continue around a long-term development project in the Rose Quarter area.
by AceMcStace
@Portland Trail Blazers
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From the free article preview:
>đ PORTLAND, Ore. â As talks continue around the long-term development of the Rose Quarter campus and the Lower Albina neighborhood, the Trail Blazers are on the verge of securing their short-term future at the Moda Center.
>The Blazers and the city of Portland have reached agreement on a five-year extension of their lease, which was set to expire in October of 2025. The Blazers will then have an option to extend the lease an additional five years, through 2035, according to sources with direct knowledge of the deal. However, this agreement is being approached by both sides as a bridge deal, with the ultimate goal of a long-term developmental project with the land around the Moda Center and the Rose Quarter campus.
>The agreement, which was negotiated by Blazers president of business operations Dewayne Hankins and Portland mayor Ted Wheeler, is set to go before the Portland City Council next week, where it is expected to pass a vote.
>Once itâs official, the bridge deal will give the city, team and other stakeholders time to negotiate a long-term plan not only to renovate the arena and keep the Blazers playing there, but for more significant development in the Rose Quarter area and greater Albina district in North Portland.
>The Blazersâ previous ground lease with the city, a 30-year contract that went into effect when the arena opened in 1995, included three options for the team to extend the lease by an additional 10 years each. The teamâs deadline to make a decision on the first of those 10-year extensions is Oct. 11 of this year, one year ahead of the expiration of the lease.
>Both the Blazers and the city felt they needed more time to negotiate a new long-term lease and a plan for developments in the area that made sense for all parties. As a result, the team and city agreed to split that initial 10-year renewal option into two five-year periods, to create more flexibility to work out a long-term deal.
>The term sheet for the new agreement, which I have viewed and which will be voted on by the City Council next week, lays out what the sides are calling a âpublic-private partnershipâ involving a transfer of the arena from the team to the city and a roadmap to keeping the Moda Center, which is the oldest NBA arena to never undergo a major renovation, viable as a long-term home for the Blazers.
Interesting to note that in that last paragraph it sounds like the Moda Center would be transferred from the team to the city. If this leads to the development of the area around the arena Iâm all for it.
Neat
Highlights from full article:
* Rose garden will be sold to city for $1
* The investment into arena improvements will come from the existing tax on blazers parking and tickets, historically used to fund Providence park improvements and other city owned sports venues. Also capped at 50% the total cost.
* Restructured the lease to renew in 2 sets of 5 years instead of 10 to make a long term deal including Albina redevelopment
* Put protections against the Blazers leaving the Rose Garden
> âRepayment of City Funding Commitment,â which states that if at any point in the future the Moda Center is no longer the Blazersâ home arena, the teamâs ownershipâbe it Jody Allen or anyone who buys the team from Paul Allenâs estate in the futureâwill be required to pay back 100 percent of the money the city contributed to updating the building.
The boys are staying in town
This is huge news. It eliminates my fears of Jody moving the team to Seattle once the last lease was up.