A rendering of Portland Diamond Project’s proposed baseball stadium for Portland, Oregon.
There’s nothing set in where MLB will expand to next, but the Portland Diamond Project says it’s primed to build a new MLB-ready stadium along the Willamette River in downtown Portland as soon as 2027 if the city gets awarded a team.
The group has fresh renderings from Populous to keep interest alive in the Rose City.
As first reported by Oregon Live, Portland Diamond Project founder and CEO Craig Cheek met this week with a Portland government committee to show off the new renderings at Zidell Yards directly on the waterfront and tucked between two signature Portland bridges.
A view of the proposed baseball stadium in Portland.
“We believe this is an iconic site,” Cheek says. “If you think about the current 30 stadiums in the country, there may not be a better backdrop.”
The Portland Diamond Project has been in existence since 2017 and had multiple stadium iterations and ideas in its time. The latest is a 32,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof tucked near the Ross Island Bridge and the 10-year-old Tillikum Crossing.
“This ballpark aims to celebrate Portland’s rich baseball legacy and its deep community ties,” Jeff Yrazabal, who is leading the project for Populous, tells me, “while driving economic growth, revitalizing downtown and strengthening connections to the Willamette River and the outdoors.”
Ted Wheeler, Portland mayor, recently threw support toward the Portland Diamond Project, saying bringing a MLB team to the city would provide a positive impact to the region.
The South Waterfront in downtown Portland with a proposed baseball stadium.
Zidell Yards is a 30.85-acre site in the center of Portland’s South Waterfront. It is one of the last remaining large urban redevelopment opportunities in the central city. “Our family believes a ballpark would be a meaningful redevelopment of the Zidell property and create a vibrant district featuring restaurants, shops, public open space and residential opportunities,” says Jay Zidell.
Portland City Council member Dan Ryan says he’s ready for Portland to capitalize on its rich history in baseball with a MLB team. “I can’t think of a better postcard view than watching home runs with the beautiful Willamette River and beloved Mount Hood in the background,” he says.
A new baseball stadium in Portland would create a new retail district.
As the new renderings show, the outfield in the proposed stadium has limited seating and pushes directly against the shore of the Willamette River. The open end creates views of the river, Portland’s bridges and Mount Hood to the east. The new stadium, with its translucent retractable roof, would be surrounded by a new district featuring restaurants and shopping.
Populous, based in Kansas City, is one of the leading stadium architecture firms in the world and has designed the majority of venues in MLB. The firm was also involved in the recent redevelopment of Oregon State’s Reser Stadium and the redevelopment of the 6,000-seat minor league stadium for the nearby Hillsboro Hops.
A view looking east toward the proposed baseball stadium in Portland.
While MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said the MLB has plans to add two new teams in the next five years, where and exactly when are still very much a mystery. While Portland is one of the cities in the mix, it is certainly not alone. Austin, Charlotte, Montreal, Nashville, Raleigh and Salt Lake City are just some of the other cities in the discussion. But one thing Portland has at its ready is a stadium design and project the Portland Diamond Project is ready to play ball.
