You are going with the wrong people.

But seriously, are there any actual chances of an MLB team?

Not that I know of, I am sure there is still someone in MLB talking about moving a AAA team here, but I don't think there is any real push for moving a team here or expanding the league. Heck, for the most part, MLB has to figure out to get people to show up to the teams they already have.

Damn. I miss going to Tigers games a lot. I can't get into the Blazers and even though soccer is fun to see sometimes, I didn't grow up with it, so it feels a bit weird. Baseball is so chill. Perfect for summer. I guess I'll just have to settle for the Hillsboro Hops...

Portland on short list for MLB expansion, commissioner says
Jared Cowley, KGW 11:15 AM. PDT September 21, 2017

http://www.kgw.com/sports/mlb/portla...says/477597839

The league is using Portland to extort Oakland and Tampa into ponying up money to pay for new stadiums.

We are only a serious contender if we agree to spend 100's of millions of dollars on a new ballpark.

I enjoy baseball. And I would love to watch an MLB game in Portland. But billionaire owners need to pay for their own fucking stadiums.

Come again?

You are going to baseball games with the wrong people if you are falling asleep. Games are as much about who you go with to watch as they are about what's actually happening.

I just saw that today, it's as if someone has been spying on my thought. Good to know that Portland is being considered for a MLB team in the future. I personally would love to go to Portland Beavers games. :tup:

Actually it sounds like there are two options, either one of those two teams end up moving to Portland or Portland gets one of the two expansion teams.

Also, Portland still has $150 million set aside for a new baseball stadium thanks to Mayor Vera Katz over a decade ago to secure funds with Oregon to help finance a stadium. From what I hear, that would still apply today.

Wow, the timing of that article is eerie/weirdly coincidental.

That is essentially my point. The only way to make it entertaining would be to focus my attention on something else. In this case the friends I bring along. But why not just remove baseball from the scenario entirely and have a good time with my friends at one of our cities many other actually entertaining events. Or if I'm just looking to socialize there are plenty of bars that could facilitate that much more comfortably.

If I am going to pay for an entertainment event (sports,music or otherwise) I expect to be directly entertained by that event. But if sitting in hard seats for three hours watching a bunch of grown men stand around in a field while washing down some greasy popcorn with a $10 miller is how some people want to spend time with their friends... more power to them. It's just not for me personally.

^ LOL, yeah. Well, I like the flow of a game, how it can go slowly and then suddenly get really intense. I have a similar feeling about soccer as you do about baseball, but evidently that's not how most of Portland feels about it given the Timbers Army and the planned expansion...

Replace baseball with football and I would totally agree with you. Not every sport is for everybody.

...continues at the DJC (temporarily unlocked).

And every building will have a green roof!

Albina Vision presentation [34 MB] to the Design Commission.

I see the grain elevators along the river are still in place in that photo. I would think that any comprehensive design for that neighborhood would look at moving them further downriver and activating the riverfront as well. Given the fact that it is prime real estate the business case should be pretty darned good.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that elevator is going away anytime soon. I recall Louis Dreyfus stating that site was one of its busiest terminals in the NW, but Im not able to provide a reference. It really is a shame its there. That waterfront area between the Steel and Broadway bridges is quite complex, given the elevator and railway, but I'll keep my hopes up for development there someday!

Here is an article from 2016, which notes a $12M expansion to the elevator in 2012: https://fadedportland.wordpress.com/...ter-area-1977/

Infill over the freeway from NE Multnomah to N Tillamook shown on slide 13 appears antithetical to the subsequent pictures based on ODOT IRQ project which includes only caps from N Hancock to N Weidler. Slide 21 is noticeably absent of any on and off ramps. Not sure if this is an indictment of the ODOT I-5 plan or a subtle surrender to them.

It always seems so bizarre to me when abstract proposals like this woo people. Everyone has their own vision of how it might be to walk around.

Imagine sitting down and looking at a newspaper in the 1960s. Here is what you would see: The New Minnesota Freeway! We now know what it is like walking/living there. It is awful. In the joint proposal the intersection of Broadway and Vancouver still has 6 lanes. There will be an equal or greater amount people driving through the neighborhood from the freeway. Both current and future Broadways are equally intolerable.

What would actually improve the neighborhood, make it walkable, equitable, diverse, safe? Slide 21: a 10 block cap of I-5 absent of any on and off ramps?

I'd actually be really sad to see the grain terminals go away. They create a strong sense of place, with a visual reminder of why Portland grew up as a city in the first place. I love the sight of ocean going ships 100 miles upriver from the Pacific.

Even if they do ever fall into disuse I'd still advocate for keeping them and doing something like Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.

If this all happens, I am more than okay with this area not being used for a new baseball stadium. The only thing I might be sad about is the buildings on the south end of the Moda Center because it seems like it would really block the view of the Moda Center from downtown, and I like seeing it all lit up Blazers red.

I understand your point of view. Repurposing is a nice idea. In Oslo we have these grain silos which have been converted to student housing. I don't know if the earthquake code and risk in Portland would make repurposing cost prohibitive or even possible.

http://www.hrtb.no/sio-silo/

Brief article by Brian Libby on remaking the IRQ in the Albina Vision. If it's not already apparent, the ODOT plan appears to be antithetical to Rukaiyah Adams and the Albina Vision for inner N. Pland. The patchwork of non-functional caps ODOT will use for construction is the opposite of the continuous 10 block cap proposed by Adams. Here's Jonathan Maus from bikeportland.

I was involved in a project years ago that involved a principal player within the orbit of Louis-Dreyfus (hint... the individual's last name was the same), and they indicated that Paul Allen had approached on more than one occasion to purchase the elevators. He was told - paraphrasing - 'Sure, if you build and deliver us an equivalent grain storage and loading facility elsewhere along the industrial Willamette as an exchange, we'll consider it.'

Your recollection of it's status within the Dreyfus realm, appears accurate. I recall at the time (circa late 90's-2000) being told it was an asset that was free and clear of any debt and was tremendous net revenue source for L-D.

Maybe something will change as the Allen fortune distributes over the next few years and others have different/evolving visions for the area. Still a sizeable financial hump to clear, for a new development. Absorbing the cost of that new facility within the redevelopment budget probably will always be a killer, unless there is a sizable subsidy. Even Paul Allen who was known for pet projects not needed to pencil (EMP for example), didn't bite on this one.

Much has changed. I wouldn't be surprised to see this site become available in the coming years and the numbers don't pencil as a grain elevator any longer. There has been a tremendous amount of capacity (over)built in recently on the Columbia. The elevators in town cannot get the large trains in and cannot support the largest ships like their competitors. You hardly ever see ships being loaded at this location, and that is even after a massive investment LDC made in the elevator some 4-5 years ago. The biggest issue might be the book value far exceeds the land value and the company may not want to recognize the loss on sale, but eventually my guess is the writing is on the wall. It's unfortunate we may have missed a window with Paul Allen. It's going to be a difficult project to make work.

On that topic, they're requesting a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a zone change:

I'm in the same boat, having equated them with the IRQ since I was a kid. If they were ever repurposed, there are so many awesome things that they could turn into. Here's the Flakturm in Vienna. The parking lot adjacent to grain towers could easily be a park now.

Sorry the article's locked up, but this sounds like a step closer to possibly seeing the demise of this grain terminal? Such a prime waterfront area with great views.

Prominent waterfront property trades hands for a steal

By Jon Bell – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal
7 hours ago
The new owner of the former Louis Dreyfus Co. grain terminal north of the Steel Bridge is likely looking for a temporary user until the parcel can be sold or redeveloped.

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland..._news_headline

^They're reporting the property sold to Rabin Worldwide for under $200K, however there are probably additional details behind the deal. Such as profit sharing when/if the land is sold.

No redevelopment is proposed at this time however there is an oversupply of grain storage.

It also mentions that they are looking for an operational partner for at least the next few years when a better opportunity to sell/redevelop might come up.

This would be an exceptionally hard site to redevelop. Most of the land in between the grain terminal and N Interstate is owned by Union Pacific, who I doubt are eager to sell it. Under Central City 2035 there's a 50' setback from the river that no new buildings could be placed in. Once you account for those constraints there's not a lot of site left.

This would be very costly and would probably only be done for a major development that probably included help from the city, but Union Pacific could "sell" the air rights and allow a platform to be built over the tracks that could then be built on top of. From there, the city would have to make an exception to the zoning setbacks to allow for something taller to be built along that stretch.

Granted, I wouldn't hold my breath for anything like this happening here, but I could see something like this happen if all the parties wanted to take on a major project like this.

I've often thought this could be a great location for an intercity/high-speed rail station, as the tracks are already there, it would keep trains from having to cross the Willamette twice compared to Union Station (and avoid the road conflicts that entails), and it is still centrally located given its connection to the Rose Quarter TC. Send commuter trains (if they ever arrive) to Union Station, and the faster trains from Eugene/Seattle/Vancouver can stop on the east side without having to slow down for the crossing.

As a bonus, passengers arriving would have a killer view of downtown.

I remember a proposal from somewhere many years ago that floated the idea of a repurposed Memorial Coliseum as an HSR station, which made sense for the same reasons you outlined.

Indeed, the recent WSDOT Ultra High-Speed Ground Transportation Study lists several scenarios in which Portland's HSR station is located at the Rose Quarter (plus one scenario putting it at the airport and another at the Expo Center, but none at the present Union Station).

That would also go well with my idea of turning the whole area in front of the Moda Center into an underground transit station, especially if a tunnel line for light rail is constructed. It would make sense to have this site be the location for HSR and regional rail.

I’d like to just see a new development with inclusion of low income housing and mixed use commercial to activate the area for pedestrians.

Drawings [58 MB] for Analog at 1835 N Flint.

I always like WPA designs, this location looks awkward right now, but going to be amazing when that whole area gets redeveloped.

Not a big fan of the abstract lines. I agree it will look better when the rest of the area is redeveloped.

Albina Vision presentation [10 MB] to the Planning and Sustainability Commission.

The presentation starts about 10 minutes into this video:

• Video Link

...continues at OPB.

The Design Commission is getting a briefing on the Albina Vision next week. Here's a memo and the supporting documents.

Off topic but Mac is nextportland still active moving forward?

I'm not sure

You've done such a fantastic job, it would be a shame to see it go.

It’s a great site would hate to see it go.. but I can imagine the time it takes.

Presentation [200 MB] to the Design and Historic Landmarks Commissions.

I think some of your questions might be answered by browsing through the larger package linked here:

It's worth noting that there are two buildings in the boundaries that are already in development, on parcels M [Albina One] and N [Analog] (ref also pages 6, 19 and 20 of the Site Data Appendix).

I think it's likely that the "Right of First Refusal" referenced in the presentation is Albina Vision Trust's right to buy the PPS Blanchard site, not a reference to who will live in the future developments. With that said, there are policies such as the N/NE Preference policy that are specifically designed to benefit people who have been displaced from N/NE Portland (very disproportionality Black people), while remaining in compliance with the Civil Rights Act.

Lastly... I really don't want to be in the position of moderating a politics forum, so can I ask everyone to please stick to comments that directly relate to this development?

Design Advice Request notice for Albina One, North of 253 N Broadway.

Albina One Drawings [9 - MB] and Memo to the Design Commission.

Not a bad addition of density there. Wish it were a little taller, but so it goes.