Beaverton, Paulson ready $59 million stadium deal

Portland Beavers baseball team could move to the suburbs if the proposal is approved

By Ed Johnson

The Beaverton Valley Times, Oct 13, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (17 Reader comments)

Jaime Valdez / Beaverton Valley Times

Beaverton Mayor Dennis Doyle prepares to talk with reporters Tuesday afternoon at City Hall as Russ Draper, who doesn’t support the baseball stadium plan, holds a sign protesting the proposal.

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The deal to bring the Beavers to Beaverton got its first official number Monday: $59 million.

That’s how much building a stadium will cost, according to a preliminary deal signed last Thursday between Beaver’s owner Merritt Paulson and the city of Beaverton. Of that, taxpayers would be on the hook for 60 percent — or about $34.9 million.

Mayor Denny Doyle and city staff say they expect the average Beaverton homeowner to see an increase of around $5 a month in utility and property taxes if the deal goes through, money that would pay off city-issued bonds for the project.

“We’re trying to minimize the impact on taxpayers, but as time marches on, the potential is tremendous for what this project can do,” Doyle said. “We have to give it a hard look and make it work.”

A win for the team

The Triple-A baseball Beavers are being forced out of their PGE Park home in 2011 because the stadium will be remodeled into a new home for the Portland Timbers soccer team, which begins Major League Soccer play that year. Paulson owns both the Timbers and the Beavers.

INFO ON THE DEAL

Click here to read the city’s agenda bill and memorandum of understanding that will be discussed at Tuesday night’s work session.

The agreement also locks the Beavers into a 25-year stay at the new stadium and guarantees the payment of $20.5 million over that time period. A 6 percent ticket tax on all ticketed events would also go to the city, which is estimated, just for baseball games, to bring in $8.7 million by 2036.

The deal also stipulates that Paulson will make a $9 million upfront cash contribution to the project, and provide an additional $1.3 million in contingency funds. If the project goes over budget, the city will pay for half of the first $2 million in overruns. Peregrine LLC will cover the entirety of any additional costs beyond that.

“If I wasn’t confident (in the project) I wouldn’t be putting in the capital that we’re putting in,” Paulson said. He later added: “The bigger thing for me is that I feel this is a win-win for the Beavers, and that Beaverton feels the same way.”

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