Albina Vision Trust, Portland Trail Blazers announce launch of the Albina Rose Alliance
Historic partnership to accelerate restorative development in Lower Albina
Lower Albina has always been the cultural capital of Portland. In our 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 would be refashioned into an Interstate highway and the public-facing home of the biggest sports franchise in Oregon history.
Today, Albina stands as a reminder that a place is fundamentally defined by its relationship to human beings – that restorative redevelopment is not a question of what we build, but how we build and who we build it for.
The Albina Rose Alliance is a deep-rooted partnership between the Albina Vision Trust and the Portland Trail Blazers anchored in shared values.
“We are united by the fundamental belief that, standing shoulder to shoulder, business and community can band together to build the most innovative, people-centric and culturally rooted district in the United States of America” - Winta Yohannes, Executive Director of the Albina Vision Trust
Together, we can tell a different story of what Portland is, has been, and can become.
“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.”
This is an action plan, not a PR strategy. As the two largest cultural anchors in Lower Albina, the Albina Rose Alliance is a new blueprint for civic participation and restorative development – one centered around the lives of children, play, the economic and generational well-being of our most marginalized neighbors, and the city that we love.
The work of the Albina Rose Alliance will unfold across four areas of strategic alignment between the Trail Blazers and Albina Vision Trust:
Joint development strategy for Lower Albina, including the Rose Quarter;
Joint storytelling and communications;
Joint legislative strategy and advocacy to amplify impact;
Joint celebration of community through events and gatherings;
Our focus is straightforward: To restore Albina as the economic, residential and cultural heart of Portland’s central city. Sustained reinvestment in Lower Albina, including the arenas that now call the district home, can serve as the centerpiece for revitalizing the district and central city into a vibrant, transformational space.
A better Portland is possible. We no longer have to choose between healing the scars of yesterday or building a brighter future. The Albina Rose Alliance will do both.