The Moda Center: an ownership timeline
The Moda Center is this project's central case study: a new team owner leveraging the threat of relocation to extract hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded arena renovations, while the city that pays for them gets no equity, no board seat, and no cut of ticket revenue in return. Portland isn't unusual here — it's a case study in a pattern playing out in host cities across the country. What makes it structural rather than a one-off bad negotiation is that neither Portland's city government nor a Green Bay Packers-style nonprofit of local fans, businesses, and civic institutions is legally permitted to buy the Trail Blazers outright; the NBA's constitution forecloses both options. See Public ownership for that argument in full, and Title II — Franchise Ownership Structure Reform Act for the legislative fix this project proposes. What follows is the record that argument rests on: the Rose Quarter land, the arena building, and the Trail Blazers franchise have each changed hands on separate, overlapping timelines, and it's easy to get the story wrong by treating them as one.
1995 — construction.
Paul Allen financed the arena (opened October 12, 1995, cost ~$262 million) through a shell company, Oregon Arena Corporation (OAC), using personal funds plus $155 million in bonds from a lender consortium led by TIAA-CREF. Because Allen declined to personally guarantee the debt, lenders imposed an unusually unfavorable 8.99% rate with no prepayment option. A 30-year ground lease for the land also took effect the same day, running to October 11, 2025 — meaning most of the site was already city-owned land from day one, not a private holding that only became public in 2024. (Wikipedia: Rose Garden arena bankruptcy; Ordinance 191857, Portland.gov)
2004–2005 — default and an overlooked interregnum.
OAC filed Chapter 11 in February 2004 after accumulating ~$20 million in operating losses; settlement talks between Allen ($90M offer) and creditors ($198M demand) failed. The bankruptcy court ordered the arena transferred to creditors, and by January 1, 2005 it was owned not by Allen but by Portland Arena Management LLC, a consortium of bondholders — private ownership, but a distinct entity from any "team owner" in the ordinary sense. That two-year interregnum is easy to miss: for about two years, the arena was owned by creditors, not by a sports-team owner at all, which is itself evidence that the private-financing model for the arena had already failed once. (Wikipedia; Jack Bog's Blog, 2004)
2007 — Allen repurchases.
Allen bought the arena back from the creditor consortium in April 2007 (price undisclosed) through Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, later operating it via Rip City Management, LLC — the entity named throughout the current city ordinances.
August 2013 — "Rose Garden" renamed Moda Center.
The building's original name had nothing to do with a sponsor: "Rose Garden" referenced Portland's own reputation as the "City of Roses," and echoed the naming pattern of Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden. That name survived the 2004–2007 bankruptcy and creditor-ownership interregnum unchanged — the building kept being called the Rose Garden throughout, since none of those ownership changes touched naming rights. The name only changed in August 2013, when the Trail Blazers signed a 10-year naming-rights deal with Moda Health (an Oregon-based health insurer), reported at up to $4 million/year though neither side confirmed the figure, renaming the arena Moda Center. The change drew real public backlash — Portland Mayor Charlie Hales called it a "head scratcher" — and the new logo added a rose "as a salute to the city of Portland" at owner Paul Allen's own request. That original 10-year deal's term ran through 2023; the arena has continued operating under the Moda Center name since, but this project has not independently verified the terms of any renewal or extension past 2023 — flagged here rather than assumed. (NBA.com/Blazers: "Rose Garden Renamed The Moda Center"; Wikipedia: Moda Center)
August 7, 2024 — the actual transfer to the City.
Two emergency ordinances, both confirmed against the primary Portland.gov ordinance text: - Ordinance 191858: the City bought the one remaining privately-held parcel (the "Kosei Parcel") from Rip City Management for $7,130,000, and bought the arena building itself for $1, funded through the city's Spectator Venues and Visitor Activities Fund — not the general fund. - Ordinance 191857: established a new five-year (extendable to ten) bridge operating lease with Rip City Management and Trail Blazers, Inc., keeping the team through at least October 11, 2030, with the City matching Rip City's capital investment 1:1 up to venue-generated revenue (potentially $9M+/year).
The city and Rip City Management agreed to accelerate this transfer by about a year relative to the original 1995 ground lease's 2025 end date, as part of the bridge-lease negotiation. This was the maturation of a 1995 lease-to-own structure plus a supplemental parcel purchase, not a first-time transfer from a purely private owner. (Ordinance 191858; Ordinance 191857; Portland Mercury)
March 31, 2026 Sale to Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon
The team itself changed hands separately, and recently. The NBA Board of Governors approved a $4.25 billion sale of the Trail Blazers** to a group led by Tom Dundon (Carolina Hurricanes owner), with an 80.1% stake closing March 31, 2026. This is unrelated to the City's arena-ownership acquisition but likely to come up in the same public-comment context — any project material still describing "Jody Allen's Vulcan Sports & Entertainment estate" as the current team owner is now out of date. (OPB)
2026 — the live term sheet.
Further information: Moda Center: the 2026 term sheet and lease negotiations
The current council agenda item (public hearing August 5, deliberation August 6, vote scheduled August 12, 2026) is a much larger commitment than the 2024 bridge deal. The primary source — Resolution 2026-280 and its Exhibit A term sheet — resolves what earlier secondary coverage made look like conflicting City and County figures: there are actually two separate funding tracks. An immediate/upfront renovation budget of $573 million (State of Oregon $365M + City of Portland $120M + Multnomah County $88M), and a separate ongoing 20-year "eligible projects" commitment of roughly $288.6 million (City $275M + County $13.6M). Summed across both tracks: the County's total exposure is $101.6 million and the City's total is $395 million. The package includes a 20-year binding lease commitment and a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) starting at $3M/year, escalating 5% annually. This remains a non-binding term sheet: final binding agreements are due by December 31, 2026, so an August 12 "yes" vote does not by itself lock in these numbers. (Resolution 2026-280 / Exhibit A, Portland.gov; Portland.gov Moda facts; Multnomah County adopts resolution, KPTV)
Summary table:
| Asset | Owner (as of Aug 2026) | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Land (Rose Quarter site) | City of Portland (ground lease since 1995; full fee ownership of the Kosei Parcel since 2024) | Mostly always; Kosei Parcel Aug 2024 |
| Arena building | City of Portland | Aug 7, 2024 (bought for $1) |
| Arena operations | Rip City Management, LLC (private operator, under city lease) | Bridge lease through Oct 2030 |
| Trail Blazers franchise | Tom Dundon-led "Rip City Rising" group | March 2026 |
Resolved the City and County figures above are drawn directly from Resolution 2026-280 / Exhibit A rather than secondary coverage; the earlier appearance of conflicting numbers was two distinct funding tracks (immediate vs. 20-year cumulative), not an actual discrepancy. For the party-by-party detail behind these figures, see Moda Center: the 2026 term sheet and lease negotiations.