Albina Vision Trust, Portland Trail Blazers announce launch of the Albina Rose Alliance

(Portland, Ore.) – The Albina Vision Trust and the Portland Trail Blazers are proud to announce the launch of the Albina Rose Alliance, a partnership to support community-led restorative development efforts to revitalize Albina as the economic, residential and cultural heart of Portland.

In the words of Winta Yohannes, Executive Director of the Albina Vision Trust, “The Trail Blazers and Albina Vision Trust are united by the fundamental belief that, standing shoulder to shoulder, business and community can band together to solve our city’s biggest problems.”

The alliance will draw on the strengths of the two organizations and the state’s largest gathering place to formalize a partnership rooted in community, celebration and hometown pride. Sustained reinvestment in Lower Albina, including the Rose Quarter and arenas now located in the district, can serve as the centerpiece for revitalizing the district and Portland’s central city into a vibrant, transformational space.

“The Portland Trail Blazers have a legacy of connection with the Albina neighborhood and are committed to working in partnership with the Albina Vision Trust to be a positive force for change moving forward,” said Dewayne Hankins, President of Business Operations for the Portland Trail Blazers and Rip City Management. “Rip City is a part of the fabric of our community, and reinvestment in Moda Center and the Rose Quarter can be foundational to supporting community-led restorative development efforts throughout Lower Albina.”

Lower Albina has always been the cultural capital of Portland. In the city’s early days, the neighborhood was the anchor point and spiritual home of Portland’s vibrant Black community. In the aftermath of the systematic destruction of Lower Albina, it was refashioned into an Interstate highway and the public-facing home of the biggest sports franchise in Oregon history.

The work of the Albina Rose Alliance will unfold across four areas of strategic alignment between the Albina Vision Trust and Blazers:

1. Joint development strategy for Lower Albina, including the Rose Quarter;
2. Joint storytelling and communications;
3. Joint legislative strategy and advocacy to amplify impact;
4. Joint celebration of community through events and gatherings;

The Albina Rose Alliance will accelerate the work of the largest restorative redevelopment effort in the nation while deepening the Blazers’ roots in Portland, expanding their impact and transforming Moda Center into a communally-integrated event venue. Moda Center attracts nearly 1.5 million visitors to sports and community events in Lower Albina each year and generates $600 million in annual regional economic activity, but it is the oldest arena in the NBA never to have undergone a major renovation.

It will also ensure that the entirety of Lower Albina is redeveloped in a restorative, cohesive, aspirational and community-driven manner – one that explicitly centers the generational benefit of marginalized and historically displaced Portlanders.

More information about the Albina Rose Alliance is available here: Trailblazers.com/ARA

MEDIA CONTACTS:

JT Flowers, Albina Vision Trust

Charles Boyle, Portland Trail Blazers & Rose Quarter