AS NEW SEASON GETS UNDERWAY, TRAIL BLAZERS, ALBINA VISION TRUST PARTNER TO CREATE ALBINA ROSE ALLIANCE

Photo Courtesy: Travel Portland

Historic and innovative partnership aims to accelerate restorative redevelopment in Portland’s Lower Albina district

When it comes to sports, teamwork is typically a primary factor in the success of any given game or season. But this critical concept doesn’t just apply to the field of play, as focused partnerships and a cohesive commitment to a particular goal or vision can significantly strengthen the work being done by like-minded organizations as well, whether that be in the public, private or non-profit sectors.

As the new NBA season approached on the court, off the court the Portland Trail Blazers and Albina Vision Trust (AVT) recently established an innovative partnership – the Albina Rose Alliance – to support community-led restorative development efforts aimed at revitalizing Portland’s Lower Albina District as the economic, residential and cultural heart of Portland.

With many shared interests as neighbors in the historic center of Portland, the two organizations already had a strong relationship and mutual interests. But the new Albina Rose Alliance partnership is designed to accelerate the work that centers around the largest restorative redevelopment effort in the country while deepening the Trail Blazers’ roots in Portland and transforming Moda Center into a community-integrated event venue.  

“Sports are a part of the fabric of our community, and it’s part of what makes Portland ‘Portland,’” said Charles Boyle, director of public affairs for the Trail Blazers. “The Blazers have been a part of Lower Albina neighborhood for decades, and this is a continuation of that connection and the work that we want to be doing.”

The groundbreaking partnership looks to draw on the strengths of the two organizations that firmly believe sustained reinvestment in Lower Albina can serve as a centerpiece for revitalizing the district into a vibrant, transformational space. Its work includes four pillar areas of focus, including a joint development strategy for Lower Albina, joint storytelling and communications, joint legislative and advocacy and joint celebration of community through community-driven events and gatherings.

“As a first-of-its-kind partnership between a community-led developer and a major sports franchise, what we have the opportunity to do here is define a blueprint of how community and the private sector can work together to not just advance a development vision and economically revitalize an area, but to make sure that the benefits of that type of development flow to communities who have been typically underserved, under-resourced and pushed out of the most prized places in our city,” said JT Flowers, director of government affairs and communications for Albina Vision Trust. “That’s what’s really special about this and the reason that both of our organizations are so high on what this partnership represents.”

Decades ago, Lower Abina was the anchor point and spiritual home of Portland’s Black community, but the construction of Interstate 5 and a series of midcentury development projects resulted in residents being forced out of the area. As a national model for the emerging field of restorative redevelopment, the Albina Vision Trust is a community-driven non-profit that was created to buy back land, rebuild the community and re-root the Black legacies in Portland’s central city.  

Photo Courtesy: Albina Vision Trust

Over the last four years, the organization has developed a host of projects and initiatives for Lower Albina. In August 2023, ground was broken on Albina One – AVT’s inaugural, 94-unit affordable housing development that is scheduled for completion in 2025. The non-profit has secured nearly $600 million in direct investment in the district and developed plans for a series of other projects, including plans to transform the area’s 10.5-acre Portland Public Schools site into an innovative, world-class and affordable neighborhood. Further, AVT is working to reconnect Lower Albina by building a highway cover over Interstate 5.

“Lower Albina has always been a cultural capital of the city of Portland,” Flowers said. “What we do on a day-to-day basis is to make sure that people who have historically rooted themselves in that community have the right to not only return to that community but have the ability to meaningfully call that place home and also experience all of the things that makes our city what it is, right in the heart of things.”

The Trail Blazers are working on a long-term strategy to transform Moda Center – the oldest NBA arena never to have undergone a major renovation – and the Rose Quarter. Moda Center annually attracts an estimated 1.5 million visitors and generates upwards of $600 million in regional economic activity annually while supporting thousands of jobs.

In August, the team’s management signed a five-year “bridge” extension on its lease with the City of Portland while work continues on how best to structure a public-private partnership with the city that would include a major renovation to Moda Center as part of a long-term lease to continue playing games at the arena. 

A unifying force in the Portland community for decades, the team’s ultimate vision, however, includes a more holistic approach to the development of the arena and surrounding area.

“We’re approaching that renovation not just in terms of what it means for Moda Center and the Rose Quarter, but what it means for Lower Albina as a whole, recognizing that the Trail Blazers are a neighbor in the community that we exist in,” said Boyle. “What does that mean in terms of long-term economic development, but also looking at what it means for the area in terms of residential and community restorative development.”

With broader, longer-range goals in mind, there’s already a good amount of work being done through the Albina Rose Alliance. While some of it isn’t the sort that draws big headlines, it’s all vital in its efforts to ensure the entirety of Lower Albina is redeveloped in a restorative, cohesive, aspirational and community-driven manner that centers the generational benefit of marginalized and historically displaced Portlanders.

“When we talk about the future of the district, we’re not just talking about it as neighbors, we’re talking about it as co-inhabitants,” Flowers said. “We’re roommates in this 94-acre project area that is home to what should be the most innovative development in the country. That’s a really special foundation for us to be building upon.”