Portland City Council passes resolution to unlock City-owned land for restorative development in Lower Albina

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On Thursday, September 3, Portland City Council unanimously approved a resolution that directs the City to identify and negotiate with a development partner for City-owned parcels surrounding the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The resolution also acknowledges that an organization that fits the City's criteria, Albina Vision Trust, has already come forward with interest in these parcels and a vision for what to do with them.

"We have a unique opportunity before us-as the City negotiates a new long-term lease for the Moda Center, we should also be thinking seriously about what happens to the land around it and how that development can contribute to the future of the Rose Quarter and Lower Albina," Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney said. "I am proud of this resolution, honoring the history of the neighborhood while creating the conditions for people who live here to benefit from its future."

The construction of Interstate-5 and decades of urban renewal displaced thousands of Black Portlanders, Black-owned homes, and Black-owned businesses from Lower Albina. The consequences of those decisions are still visible today.

Albina Vision Trust has spent years developing a comprehensive vision for the restoration of Lower Albina, and has built the relationships, partnerships, and investment strategy necessary to turn that vision into reality.

"For nearly a decade, Albina Vision Trust has stewarded a community vision for Albina rooted in its history and a deep belief in the possibility of repair and transformation," said Winta Yohannes, executive director of Albina Vision Trust. "This resolution gives us the opportunity to reconnect Albina as a complete neighborhood-with streets where people want to linger, storefronts owned by our neighbors, and new wealth that reaches the people who have waited the longest to share in it."

This resolution is one step toward ensuring that the City is advancing restorative development, creating opportunities for community wealth-building, and supporting a more vibrant and connected Lower Albina.

Bringing that work to the doorstep of the Moda Center creates an opportunity to connect two major investments in this part of Portland and to make sure that development around the Rose Quarter strengthens, rather than stands apart from, the broader revitalization of Lower Albina.

"Albina Vision Trust has demonstrated its ability to successfully steward projects and its commitment to reconnecting and uplifting a thriving Lower Albina, and I'm pleased the City is taking this good-faith step toward potential partnership with them in the Rose Quarter," Councilor Sameer Kanal said. "With the passage of this resolution, we're continuing to write a new story in Albina-one that's led by community, supports shared prosperity, and centers equity and a vision for restorative development."

Importantly, this resolution does not commit the City to a particular development project or appropriate public dollars. It starts the work of determining what is possible: what the land is worth, what development rights could generate, what outside investment can be brought to the table, what public investment may ultimately be necessary, and how the partnership should be structured. Those questions will come back to Council before any binding agreements are finalized.

What this resolution does is establish that Council wants to see City-owned parcels around the Moda Center developed by a community-centered organization, set criteria for that development partner, and acknowledge that Portland already has a highly capable potential partner in Albina Vision Trust, which the City will negotiate with in earnest.

"Albina Vision Trust has been at the helm of reimagining and revitalizing the historic Lower Albina neighborhood for nearly a decade, and the passage of this resolution marks an important milestone in that work," Councilor Dan Ryan said. "The timing couldn't be better, as the City simultaneously works to ensure that a Moda Center deal-one that keeps the Trail Blazers at home, in Portland-gets done. AVT's ability to pursue restorative development opportunities in Lower Albina is intertwined with our efforts to ensure that district is vibrant, livable, and economically activated for years to come."

The binding agreements are expected to return to Council for consideration on a concurrent timeline as the long-term lease for the Moda Center.

(Photo: Councilors Kanal and Ryan, NAACP Portland's Sharon Gary-Smith, Albina Vision Trust's Winta Yohannes, and Councilor Pirtle-Guiney, left to right.)