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“Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard announced an agreement Tuesday with Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson on a $129 million plan to bring MLS Soccer to Portland.”
This is not a done deal, but read on for more…
“The plan insulates the city from any potential cost overruns that might result from renovating PGE Park and building a new stadium for the Portland Beavers minor league baseball team.
The agreement calls for a $33.7 million renovation to PGE Park to make it a soccer-specific stadium. The city will issue $15 million in tax increment bonds to help pay for the stadium. Paulson will pony up an additional $12.5 million in private money.
The plan also calls for spending $55.1 million to build a new 9,000-seat minor league baseball stadium in the Rose Quarter. Earlier negotiations included a site in Lents, but Leonard said it became clear that Paulson would be more likely to attract private investment if the ballpark was at more centralized Rose Quarter site. The city will issue $18.5 million in tax increment bonds to pay for the stadium.
The city will issue spectator facilities fund bonds to pay for $31 million of the projects.
Paulson will pay the $40 million Major League Soccer franchise fee and cover any cost overruns above $2.5 million.
It remains unclear whether the Rose Quarter ballpark would supplant Memorial Coliseum. Adams said all options are on the table.
Adams, during a news conference Tuesday morning, said that despite the tough economy, now is the “time for us to take smart risks to invest in Portland’s future success.”
He said Paulson — whose father, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, is a backer of his endeavors — is “the right kind of partner” who is willing to take risks.
“To become the most sustainable economy in the world, Portland must build its international profile,” Adams said. “And the language the world speaks most is the language of `futbol.’”
For its part, the city will be contribute $64.5 million mostly through bond financing and two tax-increment districts, including a new urban renewal district to be created on the west side of downtown.
If the plan is approved, the city will begin negotiations on definitive terms that will include binding agreements. Those terms would be due by Sept. 1 for City Council consideration.
“This plan creates hundreds of jobs, protects taxpayers from risk and brings even better soccer and baseball to Portland and Oregon,” Paulson said in a statement. “We have agreed to finance or guarantee a majority of the project, to safeguard against cost overruns and to expand our already ambitious involvement in the community. This is a very good deal for the city and for taxpayers.”
Tuesday’s agreement, however, makes the plan far from a done deal.
The project relies on legislation pending in Salem that would allow the development to use state taxes on the salaries of visiting MLS players.
Also, the vote has to pass the City Council. The issue is on the agenda for Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., but Adams and Leonard admitted they have yet to secure the critical third vote need to pass the resolution.
Commissioner Amanda Fritz has aired some reservations about the project in the past. Timbers fans on Monday urged supporters to lobby for the support of commissioners Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman.
Even if all that goes through, the plan would be nullified if Paulson can’t land one of the two MLS expansion franchise that would start play in 2011.”
