What Happened To The MLB-To-Portland Effort?

As Game 1 of the World Series got underway in Houston, over 2,200 miles away in Portland, a watch party was taking place. Portland Diamond Project, the group looking to lure an MLB club to the city, was hosting the event. The mid-sized concert hall was packed. Placards posted in each seat showed the PDP colors, and a long line for merchandise was building. As beers and hot dogs were being consumed, former Atlanta Brave Dale Murphy walked the halls outside the venue, as did former Oregon State Beaver great Darwin Barney.

But for all the grassroots interest, Portland Diamond Project has largely been silent since targeting a location north of downtown Portland on the Willamette River, where renderings show a state-of-the-art ballpark surrounded by mixed-use development. The last substantive news on the site came at the end of May when the group announced that it had reached an agreement with the Port of Portland, which owns the targeted Terminal 2 (T2) property, for up to six months of extensions to continue the due diligence period. That means the extension period will cease at the end of November, and from there, it's unclear whether a further extension will be needed or sought.

Altogether, it raises the question: What happened to the MLB-to-Portland effort? In conversations with the leaders of the group, they say that while matters are not moving at the speed some might want, there is indeed movement.

The investor group of PDP is still focused on the T2 property, which has rezoning and other bureaucratic hurdles preventing it from being finalized in a property sale. Moreover, the group's larger overall development vision is very much in play and would further Portland's downtown urban growth northward.

The group plans a transportation study to see how not only a ballpark but other development will affect the area. Currently, there are no permanent public transportation options that would support the large number of fans who would attend games, a concern for the site location. While Craig Cheek, the founder and president of the Portland Diamond Project, has said that developing a ballpark is not about MLB relocation or expansion, should a relocation scenario with the Oakland A's occur, he believes the technicalities around the T2 location could be resolved quickly given the urgency.

Outside the T2 location, speculation continues to swirl that a fallback location in Northeast Portland, at the site of the Lloyd Center Mall, is in play. While there has been no money directed toward the location, it has been investigated, and it's possible that the group could move on the location, should T2 fail to materialize. The site location is larger than Seattle's T-Mobile Park's footprint, has access to Portland's light rail system, and sits off Interstate 84.

While Cheek and the Portland Diamond Project have been quiet, that is not all due to not having news to tell the public. They were keen to mention that MLB prefers that news not upstage the postseason, so it's very possible that news around partnerships and other issues could be forthcoming as winter approaches.

It was not lost on PDP that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned "Las Vegas or elsewhere" in regard to a lawsuit brought by the City of Oakland because of Alameda County's efforts to sell its ownership stake in the Coliseum back to the A's to help offset development costs for a new ballpark. While the Las Vegas television market size would be exceptionally small and the Golden Knights of the NHL and soon the Oakland Raiders will reside in the market, diluting the small population, the city has little problem getting development going. PDP will need to keep that in mind as it continues to work behind the scenes.

When, or if, relocation or expansion occurs within Major League Baseball, other markets will be afforded the opportunity to make their bids. The markets that can put money into action by acquiring property and funding a ballpark will be the ones that will be taken seriously.

Portland has reached first base. Whether it can round the other bases and make it to home is the larger question.