PORTLAND — The Portland Diamond Project and the Port of Portland said this week that they had reached an agreement to give investors another six months to study a Northwest Portland marine cargo terminal as a potential baseball stadium site.
Earlier this year, the group of investors aiming to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland sought time to address the tricky transportation and zoning problems of the Terminal 2 port site, which sits northwest of the Fremont Bridge. Wednesday’s announcement represents the second time the group has sought more time to consider the site.
The group said it plans to do a transportation study “to help better understand the constraints and opportunities related to a future ballpark and mixed-use district at Terminal 2.”
“No public or private entities have conducted a formal study regarding traffic and transportation options to and from the Terminal 2 area for the purposes of a development this large,” the group said in a statement. “As we evaluate the overall feasibility of Terminal 2 as a ballpark site, this is critical information to have.”
In a statement, Port officials said they “feel comfortable extending the timeline and welcome any information an independent transportation/traffic study might provide.”
The group will continue to pay the Port of Portland, which owns the terminal, $37,500 a month.
The port site sits on the Willamette River and comes with logistical issues. It lies far from Portland’s light rail network, served only by an infrequent bus line. A Portland Streetcar extension could get closer but would struggle to serve ballpark-sized crowds.
The terminal also is part of a prime industrial zone and business leaders have long argued the city is already short on industrial land. State land-use laws would pressure the city to make up for the loss of the site by designating new industrial land elsewhere, a prospect sure to worry environmentalists.
The port, for its part, has said it no longer sees a need for a marine terminal in the northwest industrial area. Terminal 2, as the site is called, is used only infrequently for specialized cargo.
In addition to the ballpark, the Portland Diamond Project proposal calls for a mixed-use development that includes hundreds of apartments, restaurants and other enter options.
The group is led by former Nike executive Craig Cheek, former Trail Blazers broadcaster Mike Barrett, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Grammy Award-winning singer Ciara, Wilson’s wife.
