Portland Diamond Project has quietly been building behind the scenes.
The Portland Diamond Project’s efforts to bring Major League Baseball to the Rose City looks to be building steam as of late.
John Canzano of the Bald Face Truth shared information early Thursaday morning to his subscribers that’s bound to sow seeds of hope in the hearts of Oregonians everywhere. He reports that the Portland Diamond Project is not only looking at building a ballpark, but a village to go with it. From the Battery in Atlanta to Wrigleyville in Chicago, ballpark villages have become a normal facet of the fabric of baseball just like pine tar and the crack of a bat. Ballpark villages also present lucrative opportunities when it comes to real estate investing as well.
A rendering of the potential Portland MLB Team Stadium and Ballpark Village (SOURCE: THE BALD FACE TRUTH)
The timing of the former Nike CEO and founder of PDP, Craig Cheek couldn’t have been better, either. After generating a lot of buzz and excitement with a potential new ballpark on the terminal site in NW Portland in 2019, Portland seemed like a shoe in for MLB Expansion in the near future. While MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that the league itself would not expand until the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays stadium situation was resolved, this gave potential candidates all the time needed to get their ducks in a row and all lined up when MLB was ready to open the application process. The stadium plans PDP had at the time, gave them a clear advantage and was an odds on favorite to land a team. Then COVID happened.
A rendering of the potential Portland ballpark at the NW Portland site
Fast forward a few years, and there seemed to be nothing more than wishful thinking about the possibility of professional baseball finally coming to the Rose City. The PDP seldomly gave any sort of updates towards the project. The terminal site was soon forgotten about and potentially the dream with it. After all, Portland was one of the original three Pacific Coast League teams back in 1903. Portland has a long, rich history when it comes to baseball. Locals know it. Fans know it. But, like the Delta Dome in 1964, Portland seemingly is snake bitten when it comes to the sports Gods smiling upon the Rose City. The Delta Dome is one of many mishaps the city has been through as a sports city. For a place known as “Sportland”, Nike and Under Armour world headquarters are located in Portland, one has to think that luck would finally smile upon arguably the most under served market on the planet.
Rendering of the Delta Dome. The Delta Dome was nearly built back in the 1960s. This likely would have cemented Portland’s legacy as a sports city, for good.
Adding to the lack of a potential billionaire investor to take the wheel financially, even the announcement of Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara as investors seemed like a big nothingburger that failed to move the needle. Then word starting getting around a few weeks back that PDP was considering the Lloyd Center Mall site as a potential ballpark village. On May 23, 2023, Bill Oram from OregonLive reported that they were looking into potentially turning the downtrodden mall into a ballpark village. Caution and doubt creeper in once more. Locals have known about the cities previously failed attempts to land teams in the recent past. The former Montreal Expos would choose Washington DC over Portland and Northern Virginia for relocating one of the nation of Canada’s two team. When the Florida Marlins looked into potentially moving in the late 2000’s the city took little to no action and seemed to not posses the political willpower or passion that the two and half million in the metro area possess each and everyday. But for those like myself, you cannot reap what you do not sow. Individuals like myself are what keeps dreams alive and make Cheek’s actions all the more worth it in the end.
Today’s reveal by Cazano has stoked the fires of those that still believed and will look to have their faith rewarded. As a matter of fact the PDP is not only looking at Lloyd Center mall, but the RedTail golf course in nearby Washington County. The site sits just north of Washington Square Mall in Tigard. The course itself is in Beaverton. MAX WES Commuter Rail has a station next door to the course providing a good alternative site should the mall site not pan out. In fact one could argue that the golf course site presents a larger, more lucrative opportunity for a ballpark village.
A rendering of the potential ballpark and village (SOURCE: THE BALD FACE TRUTH)
The recent timing of the Oakland A’s announcement to relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada coupled with this recent development has me believing stronger than ever that my hometown will finally cross home plate in making Portland a Major League Baseball city. I have always said Baseball is a game of luck and miracles. This time it seems that luck is on the side of the Rose City. Said Cheek regarding the update “We look forward to sharing more information when we’re further along in the process.”
And with that it’s time to rally support and believe once more.
More renderings and plans regarding the ballpark village. (SOURCE: THE BALD FACE TRUTH)
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