Blazers Owners Weigh Reset of Talks Over $600 Million Moda Center Plan

A potential restart would put a $365 million state pledge at risk, raising pressure on an August city vote before a December funding cutoff.

Overview

Team ownership met Monday and discussed the possibility of scrapping the current renovation framework and reopening negotiations on public financing.
Portland officials have issued a 20-year term sheet that requires annual property-tax offset payments starting at $3 million, union hiring for the project, and caps on cost overruns.
League officials have stepped in to mediate after talks ‘went off track,’ but the franchise and City Hall remain stalled with no formal reply from the team to the term sheet.
The package depends on roughly $365 million in state funding that could be voided if a deal is not finalized before the year-end release deadline, and Portland’s City Council is set to vote on local approval on Aug. 12.
Team leaders cite weak commercial revenue and sponsorship shortfalls as drivers of urgency, and staff say relocation would be a last resort even as the impasse increases the leverage and financial risks for the franchise and the city.