The Arena's Neighbor: Albina Vision Trust

Background: Lower Albina. Lower Albina was historically one of Portland's most significant Black neighborhoods. Much of the community was displaced in the mid-20th century by the construction of Interstate 5 and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which alone demolished more than 1,000 houses across the district. The apartment building torn down in 1958 to build the Coliseum's parking lots sat on the same site where the Moda Center stands today.1

Albina Vision Trust (AVT). A nonprofit organized around reconnecting and rebuilding Lower Albina into a mixed-use district. On August 11, 2026, Portland's City Life Committee unanimously advanced a resolution directing the city to begin negotiations with AVT over city-owned land adjacent to the Moda Center: two parking garages north of the arena and a small green space to the south. The resolution would give AVT first right to redevelop the parcels, with the city potentially helping arrange private financing and possibly retaining a partial ownership stake. This is a committee-level advancement, not a final Council vote.

Council debate. Councilor Angelita Morillo, while voting to advance the resolution, raised concerns about granting one nonprofit exclusive negotiating rights without a competitive process. A tougher discussion, she said, is coming when the item reaches the full Council.

Why this connects to the arena outcome. AVT's redevelopment plans are explicitly tied to the Moda Center functioning as an anchor. The Blazers' regular season alone attracts well over 700,000 visitors a year, more than half of the arena's overall attendance of about 1.3 million.23 That traffic is part of what AVT's broader mixed-use redevelopment envisions. The arena renovation and the Lower Albina redevelopment involve separate votes, separate funding, and separate legal agreements, but the two are connected in practice. AVT itself has been a vocal supporter of the renovation. Testifying before the Legislature in February 2026, Executive Director Winta Yohannes said losing the Trail Blazers "would be a devastating blow, echoing past harms." At SB 1501's signing in April 2026, she added that "the success or failure of SB 1501 will be determined by how this deal ultimately impacts an entire neighborhood, not just an arena," and that AVT is "here to ensure that the renovation of the Moda Center meaningfully and materially advances the generational prosperity of the people who will once again call Lower Albina home."4 AVT and the Trail Blazers formalized their relationship in 2024 through the Albina Rose Alliance, a partnership for restorative development in the area.5

Related development: the 1803 Fund. A separate Black-led initiative independently developing property just north of the Moda Center, including new single-family homes and retail space for Black-owned businesses. The 1803 Fund and AVT are partners, not competitors; the Albina Rose Alliance is a partnership between the Trail Blazers and AVT for restorative development in the area, and 1803 Fund CEO Rukaiyah Adams also founded AVT.

We don't know exactly what would happen to these redevelopment plans if the Moda Center renovation doesn't happen. What's clear is that a years-long effort, spanning multiple nonprofits and public-private partnerships, has already gone into revitalizing Lower Albina, and having the Trail Blazers anchored at the center of that effort has been part of the strategy. AVT and the 1803 Fund have each deliberately positioned themselves alongside the team, through the Albina Rose Alliance and through their own presence immediately next door to the arena.