The MLS/AAA plan is not "an additional $15 million short", nothing has changed since the plan was voted on at City Council nearly three weeks ago, nothing. The $15 million hole was created when Saltzman asked for that amendment eliminating the proposed URD before voting on the plan. The other $11.8 million that Paulson would seek was already part of the original plan negotiated by Leonard and Paulson. How long did the NFL and NBA struggle to be relevant? Decades. There is a long ways to go, but I believe MLS will continue to grow and become more relevant, especially in Portland and the Northwest. Paulson does expect to sell out the stadium at 20,000-24,00 a game the first year, but all his projections are based on selling 15,000 tickets and not on sell outs. You are not correct on that point. I believe the MLS average is about 16,000. Peace
If they extended the annex parking garage into the open area they could make more money. They could put another parking lot where the big silo is but make it low enough that you could still see the Blazer banner on it. Parking has always been an issue. Yes traffic is going to be worse if stadium is built there. The real bottle neck is the I-5/I-84 merge.
On the contrary, it's a fantastic place for high density development. Easy access to freeways, light rail and the West side. Fantastic river views. Close to Lloyd Center. If you put condos there with a convention center hotel and ground floor retail, it would be tremendous. The problem is the grain silo and the old Red Lion hotel. Those need to go. The answer for that area isn't less dense development, but more.
Rose Quarter has none of the coolness of Pearl. *If* the grain thing went it could be someplace cool, but it would take a ton of work. People who like the downtown lifestyle want to live someplace where it is cool to hang out and walk around... ever went to the Rose Quarter to do either of those? Not me.
Paulson specifically said that they expect sell-outs in season one and used that as a part of recovering money. You can say that everything is fine, but the fact remains that there are still more financial hurdles to clear, possibly on the backs of taxpayers, before an MLS team is a certainty. The Paulsons are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If this is such a great enterprise, why not just put up all of the money now and get started on a groundbreaking?
The convention center expansion cost 110 million. I don't know how much the initial construction was... but safe to assume well more than twice that. I think I am been there once. Personally... I'd rather have soccer.. and I am fine with spending taxpayer money for it. *gasp* Hell yeah... I'd take a sales tax if we could have baseball football hockey and soccer teams.
Paulson's projections forwarded to the MLS/AAA task force are based on 15,000 fans a game, which is a conservative estimate to make sure his soccer projections pencil out to the city council. This was covered at the first task force meeting here are the meeting notes. I never said everything is fine. I know there are plenty of hurdles to clear. I was commenting about the recent Oregonian article not having any new information, that's all. I suppose you could argue that the details of how the hole would be filled are new, but the hole is nothing new. Paulson doesn't own PGE Park and won't own the baseball stadium, that is why he isn't paying for all of the construction costs. I believe he's adding $12.5 million to construction costs at PGE. Did anyone watch the Trinidad match today? Peace
It's easier than you think to make someplace "cool". I never hung out on Harbor Drive, but I sure spent a lot of time on Waterfront Park. Mississipi Ave used to be wretched; now it's pretty cool. Sellwood used to suck. I could go on and on and on and on with neighborhoods in Portland. Urban renewal for the Rose Quarter would be about the easiest place to do it. It already has the infrastructure, the location and the mass transit.
USL got some coverage on ESPN. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=635013&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901 I still think, if the timbers attendance stays between 8500 - 10,000 the next two years, I bet it will reach 12,000 in the first year in the MLS.
There is a huge difference between fan support of a major league team and a minor league team. People say MLB could never work because of the flaccid support of the Beavers (man is that a Freudian phrase), but Portland's support of the M's is one of the strongest fan bases (ticket sales, tv ratings, etc.) of any out of market team. I suspect the same will occur when the Timbers join MLS.
i heard some guy on the radio say yesterday he wouldnt goto beaver games at the new stadium. only PGE park. why do people say stuff like this? PGE is not like a high quality stadium. im sure the new one would be nicer, and still on the max line..?????
New Developments! 1. PGE park must be Soccer only 2. No new location of AAA Beavers, means MLS expansion team would be reportedly off. http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_042709_news_baseball_stadium_soccer_deal.119590b35.html The MLS commissioner originally thought PGE park was too small (19,250 approx) but Merrit wants to add seating on the west side of the ballpark which probably allowed the commissioner to change his ruling in Portlands favor. I agree too, that PGE park will lose 71-72 days of events (baseball) but the Timbers are already booking more international clubs in the schedule and I would imagine the same would be when the MLS gets here.
Lets see how long Portland leads the top 5 in attendance this season. Right now its at #1 averaging 7,646 fans per game with 2 home games under its belt. http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/ Did you check out the attendance stats? I definitely saw more public fans in the stands than what I remember seeing last year. The MLS buzz is growing. I agree with Pop. Merrit Paulson is a dedicated owner believing in his fan support. Again Nike has already indorsed PGE park as a sponsor.
This also passed on April 28, 2009. source: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/04/house_panel_approves_bill_to_h.html
this whole thing seems rushed and orchestrated by the few on behalf of the many who dont want the MLS or dont care. i am a huge Timbers supporter, make most of the games and best friends with one of the head honchos of the Army. but all this just doesnt sit well for a number of reasons already discussed. why do the Beavers get the short end of the stick? they are, particularly if they have to move out to freakin Lents. closing off the stadium? that's crazy one of the most fantastic aspects of PGE is the open view of downtown, the MAX train rolling by and the ivy wall. it's beautiful. i dont like how MLS wants to have their cake and eat it too. that's no way to do business with a small, promising city such as portland. they bent their "MLS mandate" for the Seattle Sounders in allowing them to play in Qwest (with the top sections tarped off), surely something of a compromise can be made here. they'll never get 20,000 people into the stands at PGE for MLS on a regular basis. it's going to be dormant every single other day of the year. ugh, i want MLS as much as the next person. but none of it sits well. here we've already had the big "announcement", rally and all that hoopla and we're still wondering if it's a go. it's just not a clear business plan.
Everything in local or state legislature has to pass within a 9 month to a year time frame. How is that being rushed? MLS is coming in 2011. People only show up to Beavers games for Thirsty Thursdays. You don't get 7500 Beaver fans on a Saturday like what the Timbers get. Its obvious that Merritt saw the numbers. Theres tons of space to put more seating along the east side of the stadium (ivy wall). Whose saying that the max train view is going to be blocked? MLS know that US soccer is growing and what is better yet to expand teams on the west coast. Portland has almost the same population stats as Kansas City, Missouri (home of the MLS Wizards) and the rest of that metro area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri. True, but I think the timbers could easily get between 9,500 - 12,500 per game beating out Kansas City in the first year. Its not going to be dormant. Go to the next timbers game and you will see. How are business plans not easy? I bet when the Portland Trailblazers got established it was a hassle too. Things are just more complicated because we have max / tri met involved, local schools, bridges, economy, and other factors all once. Be glad that the city of portland has a major money sponsor and backer for this deal.
Now its back to Lents Park http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_050709_sports_baseball_stadium_lents.1352d01.html Why hasn't the city government checked out NW district beyond the Pearl?
