The Short Version

The original 1995 lease guaranteed the arena would revert to the city for free once the lease ended, so the city was always going to end up owning it, regardless of this renovation deal.

A nonprofit has spent years working to redevelop the historically Black Lower Albina neighborhood next door, and has publicly supported the renovation because the arena functions as an anchor for that effort.

Of the roughly $573M in proposed upfront public funding, the state and county are covering most of it, leaving the city responsible for $120M upfront plus up to $275M in eligible projects over 20 years.

The state's $365M comes with no new taxes, but it isn't guaranteed. It's contingent on a signed 20-year lease, and the authorization expires at the end of 2026.

A dated, sourced chronology of the Blazers' sale and the state's funding push, laid out in order without drawing conclusions about what caused what.

The city's total commitment is $395M over 20 years: $120M for construction now, and up to $275M for eligible arena projects after that.

The city still needs to find $80M of its $120M construction share, and PCEF is the most-discussed, and most-contested, way to help close that gap.

PCEF is bringing in far more than expected, but nearly all of it is already earmarked, and only PCEF's own independent board, not the city, can decide whether to use any of it here.

Renovating is cheaper than the city's own estimate for maintaining the arena as-is, but the full public commitment across all three governments tops $861.6M.

Both sides are citing real, sourced facts. This page lays out the strongest version of each case, side by side.