Central City Roundtable Signs Letter Supporting Moda Center Renovation

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Mayor Keith Wilson's Central City Roundtable today signed a letter urging the Portland City Council to support renovation of the Moda Center, calling the arena an essential cultural and economic asset for Portland's Central City.

The letter emphasizes the Moda Center's importance as the home of the Portland Trail Blazers and as a destination for concerts, sporting events and civic gatherings. These events bring visitors downtown and support nearby restaurants, hotels and small businesses.

"A modern, competitive arena signals that Portland remains a destination for major events, touring artists and regional investment - not a city that gets passed over," the letter states.

The meeting came during a summer of significant activity across the Central City.

The Waterfront Blues Festival brought nearly 25,000 attendees to Tom McCall Waterfront Park and downtown, while Portland Pride and a Chris Stapleton concert at Providence Park brought tens of thousands more. The PDX Live concert series at Pioneer Courthouse Square features 14 national touring acts and is expected to generate at least $3.5 million in downtown economic activity.

Darcelle XV Plaza opened in June, transforming the former O'Bryant Square site into a new public space with a performance stage, shaded seating, a dog off-leash area and ongoing programming.

Taken together, this increased activity shows that the Central City is turning a corner. Downtown office vacancy declined for the second consecutive quarter, according to the Portland Business Journal, while recent long-term lease commitments point to growing employer confidence. At the same time, larger investments are moving forward, including Portland State University's plans for a new performing arts and culture center backed by more than $70 million in private investment and the City's international design competition to reimagine Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

The Roundtable cautioned that even with these positive signs, many challenges remain. Private investment is reluctant to return to the Central City, the tax structure incentivizes local companies and workers to locate elsewhere in the region, and consumer confidence is sluggish.

The Roundtable also finalized four measures it will use to track Central City progress through 2030: office leasing activity, new housing units permitted, ground-floor activation and foot traffic recovery. The Roundtable will track these key performance indicators and provide ongoing updates.

More information about the indicators, the Central City Roundtable, and its membership is available at pdxcentralcityroundtable.com.