Somewhere in the executive offices at One Center Court, a collection of colorful renderings sits tucked away, hiding the possibilities of what could be in a dream world where Moda Center and the Rose Quarter are reimagined.
They feature acres of waterfront property and greenways along the banks of the Willamette River. They include a hidden Interstate Avenue, buried beneath pedestrian walkways. They contain a covered MAX light rail station, located steps away from a gigantic atrium that welcomes Blazermaniacs to Portland Trail Blazers games.
And blanketing it all is a barrage of mixed-use development, complete with towering new buildings.
“We kind of had this idea of, like, ‘Hey, if we had no budget and we dreamed big, what could this space look like, how could we take advantage of the fact that there’s the waterfront right there?’” a team source with direct knowledge of the renovation plans told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“None of this is cheap, but it’s not impossible,” added the source, who requested anonymity to preserve business relationships during the team’s potential sale. “And there are so many possibilities.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made headlines in July when he publicly declared that the Trail Blazers needed a new arena, an issue, he added, that will be a “challenge for any new ownership group coming in.” But that was hardly news to people inside the organization, who for years have been contemplating the possibilities of a reimagined Moda Center and weighing plans for a new Rose Quarter.
The conversation between the NBA and the Blazers is likely being driven by a complex math equation of revenue sharing that is, in part, influenced by how much money the arena makes, said venue consultant and former Blazers senior vice president Chris Oxley. Undertaking upgrades doesn’t directly guarantee a team will stay put, Oxley said, but those reinvestments bolster Portland’s position by improving the fan experience instead of holding onto an asset that, while well maintained now, could deteriorate over time.
“Every dark day that you have in an arena is a loss,” Oxley said.
Tom Dundon
Tom Dundon has an ownership group that intends to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers for an estimated $4.25 billion from the estate of Paul Allen.AP
Ultimately, potential new owner Tom Dundon could decide what to do with the 30-year-old building and whether it should be renovated and transported to the 21st century, or whether the team should ditch its current digs and build a new home.
But when the NBA officially approves the sale of the franchise and the new owner takes control, the current leaders of the Blazers will have an army of renovation ideas waiting to scrutinize.
The aforementioned dream scenario, crafted a few years ago, may seem farfetched, but it’s hardly the only concept.
The Blazers have engaged consulting firm CAA ICON and arena architect Populous, which has a Portland office, to conduct feasibility studies and draw up the renovation options, according to the team source. At some point, the organization plans to prioritize a list of renovation musts, the source added.
“We always knew the team was going to be sold at some point,” Blazers President Dewayne Hankins said. “It will be up to the new owner how we proceed, but I never wanted a new owner to come in and ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ and all we have to say is, ‘Well, I don’t know. We were waiting for you.’”
Renovating Moda and the surrounding area will be a complicated and layered process requiring collaboration among the Blazers, the Albina Vision Trust, Mayor Keith Wilson, Gov. Tina Kotek, the Portland City Council, local business leaders and taxpayers.
But this much is clear: Something, as Silver said, needs to be done. It’s not only essential to the long-term health of the franchise, the team source said, but also to the stability of the Blazers in Portland.
Lenovo Center
RALEIGH, NC - APRIL 22: Fans attend the Plaza Party outside of Lenovo Center prior to game two of the Eastern Conference First Round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs between the New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes on April 22, 2025 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
What does Dundon want?
What does Dundon, the team’s prospective owner, want? The short answer is: We don’t know. The process of the Blazers’ sale is ongoing and it will be months before the NBA Board of Governors votes on new ownership. In a text message to The Oregonian/OregonLive last month, when news of the sale broke, Dundon declined an interview request, adding that he would “be happy to talk” once things are finalized.
That said, this is not his first time navigating the renovation of a professional sports arena. Dundon, who has owned the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes for more than seven years, negotiated a deal in August 2023 to renovate the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. In addition to a massive arena face-lift, Dundon and the Hurricanes signed a 20-year lease extension to remain in Raleigh and were given rights to develop the roughly 80 acres of surrounding land.
The $800 million deal, which included $300 million in public tourism tax funds to renovate the arena, is expected to reshape the area with mixed-use development that includes retail, offices, a hotel, housing and an indoor music venue.
Every situation is different, every city is unique, and every political climate carries its own set of challenges, so Dundon will have to size up his options if he takes over the Blazers.
For example, the organization has been working closely with the Albina Vision Trust on ideas regarding the future of the Rose Quarter and surrounding neighborhood, and the team source told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Blazers executives will advise Dundon to nurture that partnership moving forward, should he decide to proceed with a renovation.
But if history is any indication, Dundon will look hard at reinvigorating Moda and the Rose Quarter, should he indeed become the Blazers’ owner.
“There’s such an opportunity here,” the team source told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “With the conversations that we’ve had with AVT and all the things that they’re trying to do here, there’s a real opportunity to make this end of town really awesome. You could do some really cool stuff.”
What type of improvements have been done in recent years?
There has been a series of incremental upgrades done at Moda over the years, but nothing significant has happened for more than a decade. At least, nothing that any fan would notice or appreciate.
The roof has been replaced. Courtside tunnels have been updated and enlarged to allow basketball hoops to be stowed away for concerts, and a bevy of new steel has been installed. But no tangible, fan experience-enhancing updates have occurred in recent years.
That will change next month, when a new Jumbotron videoboard is unveiled before the season. The arena’s main scoreboard above center court — which already has been installed — will grow by more than 50%, boasting 2,092 square feet of high-definition LED display. Also, the old “stats central” and “hustle boards” that used to occupy both ends of the arena are being replaced with full LED displays totaling 7,520 square feet.
The previous scoreboards were installed in 2007 — shortly after the Blazers drafted Greg Oden — and the enhancements represent the first significant updates in years that fans are going to feel.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JUNE 10: A general view of the outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse before the 2025 NBA Finals of the Indiana Pacers playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder as seen on June 10, 2025, before game 3 of the NBA Finals is played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
What type of renovations need to be done?
Moda Center is the seventh-oldest arena in the NBA — and the oldest that has not seen a major renovation — so it’s overdue for a major facelift.
In fact, multiple arenas that debuted after Moda have received nine-figure overhauls in recent years. Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis underwent a $362-million remodel that was completed in 2024, and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto is in the middle of a multi-year, $350-million update.
Both were originally built in 1999 — five years after what was then called the Rose Garden.
Needless to say, the sports viewing experience has changed dramatically over the last three decades. So even if those dream-world waterfront plans, which were imagined long before the team started working with the Albina Vision Trust, don’t come to fruition, Moda needs a massive makeover.
It’s due for millions of dollars in structural change, ranging from new steel to water heaters to air conditioning, but the biggest needs involve the modernization and enhancement of the fan experience, including roomier seats, wider concourses and different viewing zones.
And it starts at the gates.
It takes significantly longer to enter arenas now than it did three decades ago, thanks to increased NBA security measures and modern ticket-scanning procedures, and it seems painfully slow at Moda, especially during the cold and rainy winter months. Any remodel would have to feature a substantial change at fan egress, most likely with a large atrium that not only can keep fans dry but also expand the arena’s retail square footage.
Inside, all three levels need a significant update.
The Blazers are desperate to add luxury seating and behind-the-scenes club access to a reimagined 100 section, while they want to add amenities and “party zones” to an outdated 200 section and oversized 300 section, which is so big that it only sells out against marquee opponents, during the playoffs or for a “Taylor Swift concert,” the team source said.
“Fans want a better luxury box and better experiences and amenities,” the team source said. “And they’re willing to pay more for it if we provide that sort of stuff.”
A portion of those fans, of course, would be high-net worth Portlanders, said Oxley, who now runs sports and live events consultancy Adaptive Strategies.
In a perfect world, perhaps, the remodel would even include a courtside club next to the Blazers’ locker room, allowing fans the chance to watch players enter and leave the court.
Moda Center draws an estimated 1.5 million people every year, with a $600 million economic impact, according to the city. The added amenities should help maintain — and likely even boost — attendance, while the addition of luxury box suites will add more money to the Blazers’ bottom line, a must for a small-market franchise that has seen its revenue dip to the bottom third of the NBA in recent years. A new or remodeled arena should help the Blazers keep pace with other franchises around the NBA.
Today’s fans increasingly demand creature comforts like spacious seats, said Marshall Glickman, the former Blazers president and CEO of venue development consultancy G2 Strategic LLC.
“When you sit in a seat, your knees are up against the back,” Glickman said of Moda today. “It’s basically like sitting in an economy seat on an airplane, which is pretty brutal, especially when you’re paying the kind of money that it costs to buy Blazer tickets, concert tickets and even Cirque du Soleil tickets.”
Making room for improvements to give Moda a first-class feel could mean reducing the arena’s current capacity (between 19,000-20,000), though by how much remains unclear.
Oxley said Moda may need to cull seats to make way for key renovations in an age when it’s also hosting Portland Fire women’s basketball games. The question of precisely how many, he said, is up in the air.
“It’s quite a balancing game when you have all the data,” Oxley said.
What about a new arena?
The NBA’s Silver and Rip City Forever raised the prospect of building a new arena. Rip City Forever suggested possible sites including Lloyd Center – which is undergoing a multiyear redevelopment – or another location within the central city
“Now is the time to dream big and act big,” Rip City Forever told the governor and mayor in a July letter.
One factor in deciding whether to renovate or restart from scratch comes down to whether the current arena can support upgrades.
“If it’s incapable of that or approaching ... the cost of a new building, you’ve got to weigh those two things together,” Oxley said.
Who pays for renovations, and how?
It’s far too early to price renovations, the team source said, mostly because the Blazers have yet to receive direction from a new owner.
“We’re not there,” the source said.
But it’s clear that no matter what, the public would likely foot some portion of the bill. Possible mechanisms, according to Oxley, include ticket taxes or fees on hotel rooms, known as transient occupancy taxes.
“There are a lot of different ways to approach the investment strategy,” Oxley said.
Signaling their preference for a Moda renovation over a new arena, Kotek and Wilson said in a late July letter to Silver that they are open to exploring “the public-private partnerships needed to make it happen.”
Wilson and his staff toured Moda Center, which the city owns, with Blazers leaders on Aug. 26 to review ongoing construction of the new scoreboard and end zone videoboards. As part of a bridge agreement signed last year that keeps the Blazers here through at least the 2029-30 season, a city spokesperson said, the city will pay for up to half the cost of those updates.
The mayor has spoken with Dundon since city officials learned of his deal to buy the team so the two can “get to know” one another, said the city spokesperson, Elliott Kozuch. Wilson and Dundon discussed their commitments to keeping the Blazers in Portland, he said.
Kozuch said city officials will work with new owners and others across the public and private sectors “to ensure the Blazers have a state-of-the-art arena to call home for decades to come.”
—Joe Freeman is a senior writer at The Oregonian/OregonLive covering the Trail Blazers and NBA. Reach him at 503-294-5183,jfreeman@oregonian.com,@BlazerFreeman or@freemanjoe.bsky.social.
--Jonathan Bach covers housing and real estate. Reach him by email atjbach@oregonian.com or by phone at 503-221-4303.
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