If Portland Gets a Baseball Stadium, It Won’t Be Located at the Old ESCO Foundry

The Portland Diamond Project won't be able to locate a stadium there—because it was bought by other investors.

ESCO site in Northwest Portland. (Aaron Mesh)

The group looking to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland won't get the ESCO site in Northwest Portland.

The site has been been sold to another group of investors for $33 million, the Portland Business Journal reported today.

The Portland Diamond Project says their negotiations for the property had failed.

"Our negotiations with ESCO regarding acquisition of its Northwest Portland industrial property did not comply with our ballpark development timelines, " says Portland Diamond Project spokesman John McIsaac in a statement. "However, we look forward to working with the new owners to explore future opportunities. We will soon be sharing details pertaining to other Portland-area sites under consideration for ballpark district development."

The group began its push for a stadium by making formal offers for the ESCO site and the Portland Public Schools headquarters site in Northeast Portland. PPS responded by seeking to put the Blanchard Education Service Center up for competitive bid.

Since then, Portland Diamond Project has begun looking at Terminal Two, a site owned by the Port of Portland. It also received a boost from the involvement of pop star Ciara and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

Earlier this week, sports website the Athletic ranked Portland as the North American city most likely to get a Major League Baseball team, ahead of Charlotte, Nashville and Montreal.

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