Detroit Releases Design Plans for an Arena

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

How does America's biggest bunkrupted city afford $285 million towards an arena that no local can afford to go to? The average income in Detroit is less than 30K.

The city of Detroit will not lose their orignal 6 hockey team. Man, these cities are either stupid, crooked or need to grow a pair and tell these billionaires to fully fund their own toys.

Had you actually read the information provided in this thread, you would have seen that the city is not spending any money. It is the state of Michigan spending money.

[Freeway]

And the people with money can be lured into spending their money in Detroit proper if you give them a reason to go into the city.

[Vulcan]

Meanwhile in Detroit

t has been six weeks since the city turned off Nicole Hill's water.Dirty dishes are piled in the sink of her crowded kitchen, where the yellow-and-green linoleum floor is soiled and sticky. A small garbage can is filled with water from a neighbor, while a bigger one sits outside in the yard, where she hopes it will collect some rain. She's developed an intricate recycling system of washing the dishes, cleaning the floor and flushing the toilet with the same water.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...ry.html#page=1

[Matt Reeeeead]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

I don't want a new arena. I love the Saddledome. One of the few rinks left with character. I know it's not great but I don't want a generic modern rink. It's a really cool feeling visiting places like Fenway and Wrigley because of all the history at those places. I'd love for the dome to become like that.

But to stay on topic, this new rink does look really cool but I'm a sucker for old sports arenas. The Joe Louis was awesome. It will be sad to see them leave after what will be 40 years when the new rink is built.

Craziest post of the thread. I know it's home, but dude, wrigley? It's going to be the next Oakland a's stadium if it doesn't get replaced. That's the comp.


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[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Meanwhile in Detroit



http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...ry.html#page=1

I get the human rights questions, but these people didn't pay their bills. Its unfortunately still a business

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Matt Reeeeead

Craziest post of the thread. I know it's home, but dude, wrigley? It's going to be the next Oakland a's stadium if it doesn't get replaced. That's the comp.


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No kidding. The race of futility in North American professional sports will soon be between the Raiders, A's, Flames, and Stampeders to see which organizations are left with the designation of worst facilities in North America. Personally I like the Flames and Stamps chances as the Oakland situation is a mess and the Raiders will likely relocate to LA and the A's may just stay at the Coliseum.

[PeteMoss]

The area around the Tigers/Lions stadium is nice... just don't want to stray too far from it.

Joe Louis is relatively close by and right by the river separating Canada/US. Whenever I've gone I've always parked in the lot right that is part of the arena area so you don't really see the area around it (although it looks semi shady if I recall correctly)

[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I wasn't aware that there was a link between quality of arena and intelligence of team management? Please explain this correlation of a new building making hockey operations all of a sudden operate smarter? Coyotes are a budget team and the Leafs have far too many cooks in the kitchen to ever build an elite contender both have nothing to do with the building. In the case of the Coyotes we are talking about a team that was initially playing in a basketball stadium that to convert for hockey left some sections only being able to see 2/3 of the ice.

So we agree?

[nmhen]

It's not always going to be the case, but I can think of several American cities that have used a new sports facility to re-vitalize a formerly-blighted area. Denver (Coors Field), Pittsburgh, Cleveland, to a lesser extent St. Paul (Xcel Energy Center).

One thing to add to this discussion: bear in mind the land that the Wings acquired (for $1) was not producing any tax revenue for the city/county/state. You saw the picture earlier in the thread. It was just dead land. There is a CHANCE the new arena/arena district will generate significantly more tax revenue for the aforementioned municipalities. This is a low-risk "investment" for Detroit.

The use of "tax-increment financing" (TIF) is relatively common for metro areas looking to nurse non-revenue-producing real estate back to health. Essentially, you sell/give control of a dead (revenue-wise) piece of land to a private developer, and charge little-to-no taxes on it up front. The understanding is that they will develop that land (employing citizens in the short-run), and eventually produce commercial assets (read: businesses) that will be able to pay taxes in the long-run. So, you ramp up the tax rates on that land over time - usually an agreed-upon schedule based on how long the private entity believes it will take to develop the land.

TIF deals are not panaceas. There is no guarantee that the development will pan out. But, again, for a low-risk investment, with land that is not otherwise producing any revenue (so, what do they have to lose), and keeping a major local citizen/employer/tax-payer happy, the real question is why not?

Obviously the optics look bad, against the backdrop of their gigantic bankruptcy. But the City Council had to approve this land transfer, so you have to think this was something the general population at least wasn't violently opposed to, if nothing else.