The Portland Timbers are set to move forward on expanding the team's chronically sold-out stadium at Providence Park by up to 4,000 seats.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the project, which is expected to cost the team's owners, Peregrine Sports, $50 million. The decision makes official the terms of expansion that the city approved in June. Commissioner Dan Saltzman was absent.

The city will pay about $3 million for system repairs and replacement costs, property insurance for the expansion and for a consulting team and lawyers to oversee the project for the city, according to a City Budget Office Analysis.

The city agreed in June to waive about $5 million in ticket tax revenue over the next ten years to help lower the stadium expansion costs.

Portland currently collects taxes on Timbers, Blazers, Thorns, Winterhawks and Rose Quarter concert tickets, all of which go into a Spectator Venues and Visitor Activities Fund. Much of those funds get used to pay off debt payments for past stadium expansion and upgrades.

The city could miss out on more ticket tax revenue if the Timbers and the Thorns, Portland's women's soccer team, perform well, generating more ticket sales, or if other events are held at the stadium, the City Budget Office report said.

The Timbers will be exempt from paying ticket taxes on existing seats at Providence Park from 2018 to 2021 or 2022, depending on when construction is finalized. They will be exempt from paying taxes on newly constructed seats until 2026. The city council in September voted to allow the team to start construction early so they could stay on schedule.

Still, the city's Office of Management and Finance projected that expanding the park will have a positive impact overall.

Taxing the additional seats is projected to make the city an additional $2 million to $5 million, Portland's Chief Administrative Officer Tom Rinehart said Wednesday.

"At the end of the day, this is a very solid deal," Mayor Ted Wheeler said at Wednesday's meeting. "There is no question that the asset we're improving here can only benefit the city. I'm very appreciative of this and very excited about the potential."

Commissioner Amanda Fritz raised concerns about a provision in the agreement that would allow Peregrine Sports to sell the Thorns, considered one of the most successful teams in women's sports.

Mike Golub, president of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, said Peregrine Sports does not intend to sell the Portland Thorns. However, they wanted the flexibility to do so in the future due to "the history of uncertainty around women's sports and women's sports leagues."

Still, Golub said, "the very reason why we're doing this is to ensure the two clubs are here for the long-term."

Golub

that the expansion is necessary to ensure the soccer teams stay in Portland. The stadium's current capacity falls in the lower half of Major League Soccer Venues, he said

.

"We firmly believe this deal will allow us to build on the positive impact we have had in the community for many years to come," Golub said Wednesday.

--Jessica Floum

503-221-8306

@cityhallwatch