[$] https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...ghborhood.html

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Wow that’s huge news. Phil must know he’s going to get the Blazers finally for him to have such a mutual benefit in the area

It would be hard to overstate the significance of this. Once this $400 million is leveraged against other sources of public and private funding, that's a massive amount of investment in the neighborhood.

It might just be a big coincidence. But if I’m buying the blazers I’m going to help bankroll the area with a donation like this.

I wouldn't go that far, this is an amazing investment, but I don't think it has anything to do with any other ventures. When Knight offered to buy the Blazers, he gave a very low ball offer. If he was actually serious, he would have offered a realistic offer.

That was just the feeler we all know the first offer isn’t your final one. I don’t know like I said it might be a coincidence but it does have a huge benefit for him to invest in the area around his potential new toy

Unless he shells out $3-4 billion for the team, it ain't happening.

Knight is worth 50B come on dude lol… and the way these nba teams jump in value is nuts. It’ll be worth triple in 10 years. if he buys the blazers he would be the 2nd richest owner in the nba after Ballmer. 3-4B is nothing to him. If he wants the team he’ll get it

The Blazers are in the beginning process of a renovation of the Moda Center that will get the Arena ready for the Women's Final Four in 2030. They did the roof last year. Will be removing & replacing all the steel seating in the lower bowl this offseason. It's a stage renovation that's similar to what happened at Madison Square Garden in New York City. So 2030 is probably the earliest Jody sells the team as part of the Paul Allen Trust. By then the team will most like be worth north of 5 Billion. These improvements to the Rose Quarter, and the Albina Vision Development bode well for the Albina area going forward.

Building permit issued for Albina One yesterday:

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

My family and I live five doors from this building on Thompson. It's definitely been an underutilized corner since Albertina Kerr left the building-- with that said, and with inclusion of black artists in mind, there is literally an entire exhibit of black local and regional artists at PAM from October until February that is inhabiting much of the non-permanent collection space. At the risk of cancellation, most galleries in town are clamoring for inclusionary artists, so is it really necessary to have a gallery showing only black artists? This neighborhood is burgeoning with artists of all races, creeds and ideology. I may sound like a jerk, but when does inclusive become exclusive? Sidenote, we are a biracial household and have been a part of the Albina arts community for 15 years...... feel free to cancel me.

I think the part that you have to consider here, is the Albina Vision Trust is about bring back the POC culture and history that was damaged by the development of I5 and other projects that damaged what was once a flourishing Black community. Literally their purpose is to bring that back, so while it's wonderful that all of those other places you mentioned are featuring art from the Black community, that is quite literally what the Albina Vision is all about.

Here is what their mission statement stands for. "Albina Vision Trust (AVT) is stewarding the thoughtful reinvention of lower Albina, the cultural heart of Portland and the once-thriving center of Portland's Black community, from which thousands of residents were forcibly displaced."

I totally understand that, and am in full support. I helped do layout for the book Jumptown and also played a lot of gigs with Sweet Baby James Benton who owned a jazz club and speakeasy on Williams way back when. I understand the ramifications of the Vanport flood, the gentrification caused by the hospital, etc.. I support the cultural re-establishment aspirations, but at the same time, I think there is a bit of an overreach that is even being felt by the black community to try and live up to the expectations put upon the community by a huge influx of money. Kind of a 'you better do good things with art, music and sport and the expectations are high with all this Phil money', is what I hear from friends in the community. I think letting some aspects happen organically without a broad brush would be welcomed by all in the neighborhood. This feels a little bit like a marketing strategy than an honest attempt to re-establish cultutal footholds. That's just a boots on the ground feeling and sentiment I am picking up, though. We'll see. Again, I am in full support and will go to the gallery and enjoy it!

https://www.oregonlive.com/education...-building.html
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I think this is a brilliant idea.

I hope this happens; it would be a win-win for the city.

But doesn't the PPS HQ also house lots of non-office functions too? Like maintenance, supplies, etc? I recall this being a big topic during the Tubman MS move discussion (also considered the HQ site). Would it just be for the office building but not all of the other functions that can't easily be moved downtown?

I wonder how this will all shake out. Downtown doesn't help with all of the maintenance and kitchens facilities co-located at the current HQ. Is the cost including the relocation of those big facilities to some 3rd location? Or is that still TBD?

PPS hasn't exactly been the best steward of education dollars/decisions, so I'm curious what this will look like.

https://www.oregonlive.com/education...velopment.html

The article states that PPS will spend the next several months studying the logistics of locating the non-office functions away from the proposed Downtown HQ building before finalizing the sale of their building. I hope that they get professional planning help to do that efficiently rather than rely on in-house planners. I am optimistic that it will work out. With a unanimous decision by the Board, PPS obviously wants the deal to happen so that Albina Vision Trust can move forward in rebuilding the neighborhood that was lost decades ago.