Overview
Renovating the Moda Center: what's proposed, how it happened, and what actually matters
In short: this site walks through what the renovation actually costs, why the city ends up owning the arena either way, and lays out the strongest version of both the supporters' and critics' cases, sourced throughout.
If you're confused about the Moda Center renovation you're not alone. Buried somewhere in the public discourse are conflicting numbers and a lot of speculation (which is fair, because it's a complicated situation). What very few people have done is actually show the blunt specifics about what should actually matter to the city of Portland: how much does each option cost.
And with that, I'm going to begin at the end:
Visual
The graphic above might look puzzling at first. It only shows figures in the $400M range, but the full renovation actually costs $586.6M upfront, and climbs past $861.6M over 20 years once the city's ongoing maintenance is factored in, before even counting interest on the state's bond repayment, which isn't public yet. That's because the graphic above is specifically the city's cost by outcome, not the full public price tag across all three levels of government. (Full breakdown on the Long-Term Costs page.)
What this site intends to do is strip out all emotion, reinsert specific numbers, and revisit the nuance surrounding the timeline. It's only been a year since Tom Dundon was announced as the buyer for the Blazers. A lot happened during that year, and most people seem to forget it. Why did the State get involved in the funding? Why did the city buy the Moda Center for $1 in 2024? Why does one side call this the worst arena deal in history, while the other side says it is essential for the economic health of the city? The goal of this site is to candidly show the specifics, without speculating beyond the facts.
If you have questions, issues, or constructive critiques, feel free to share them.