Detroit Releases Design Plans for an Arena

[Split98]

http://www.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx...2bit&id=457571

The Detroit Red Wings will have a new arena in 2017. Olympia Development of Michigan released their plans that will affect all of downtown Detroit and not only the hockey team.

Spoiler!

Honestly, looks fantastic. Weird to hear a bankrupt city talking about arena plans, and moving out of Joe Louis Arena though.

[bubbsy]

looks great.... but who's paying?

[Split98]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

looks great.... but who's paying?

Right? I think it looks great and I'd be jacked if this actually does get built as it could take that city a long ways. But, unless this is privately funded, I have no clue where the cash is coming from in that bankrupt city. A completely privately funded arena is heavily unlikely too.

[getbak]

This is a year old, but I assume it's still accurate: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...nment-complex#

According to the DEGC, which staffs the DDA, $285 million of the $650 million cost will be public, with $365.5 million in private funding.

The Michigan Strategic Fund will issue 30-year bonds to cover the arena's capital costs, and those bonds will be paid off via:

• Annual DDA tax capture of $12.8 million to not more than $15 million annually, funding that was authorized by the state in December for use on the arena project
• $64.5 million in other DDA tax capture funds
• $11.5 million annually from Olympia as a concession fee.

No general fund tax monies from the city or county will be used for the project, Jackson said.

The property taxes earmarked for the arena are already collected by the DDA on properties within its defined geographical district, and by law must be reinvested on improvements within that district.

If Olympia spends at least $200 million in the event center district five years after the arena opens, the DDA will contribute up to $62 million more to retire the MSF bonds.

It sounds like as part of today's announcement, the Ilitch family has committed to spend the $200 million on developing the surrounding area now, rather than waiting until after the arena is built.


This is what the area looks like now...

[Erick Estrada]

Weird to see so much vacant space around a downtown area.

[bluejays]

Detroit is ghetto and that's the biggest problem in all of this. How do you change the culture of an area with just building an arena? The answer is you don't. You have to do a lot more to the surrounding area by encouraging newer-age investments. Motor City has been what their city has traditionally been known for, but it's outdated and is not enough to sustain a city. They have to encourage other industries to move in, whether favorable taxes or something else, but that city is an unsafe dump.

The arena plans look fantastic though.

[Muta]

Detroit should make a huge push to be the leader in electric car and renewable technologies industries. Those will only get bigger over the next several decades. Detroit could keep its automobile legacy, too. They should bribe Tesla to move there.

That said, the images showcase a really social, fun design. Would be cool if it went through, if it ever does.

[T@T]

After MSG (which is new inside) it won't be long before we have the oldest arena in the league.

[PIMking]

It should be half the size of the Joe because they cant come close to filling that joint.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by T@T

After MSG (which is new inside) it won't be long before we have the oldest arena in the league.

Islanders to Brooklyn in 2015; Oilers to Rogers Place in 2016; Red Wings to Little Caesars Palace (name TBD) in 2017. After that, we'll have the oldest barn in the league by a decade.

Hopefully by then we'll also have shovels in the dirt and it will just be a matter of time before our building opens and everyone else is trying to catch up to Calgary.

[Finger Cookin]

By 2017, I expect we'll hear occasionally from King about how far along plans for the new arena are and how great it will be.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

By 2017, I expect we'll here occasionally from King about how far along plans for the new arena are and how great it will be.

Don't hold your breath or keep a finger in your arse waiting for that.

[Finger Cookin]

Aim low, kids. Aim so low that no one even notices if you succeed.

[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.

[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.

[Joborule]

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.

People in the suburbs of Detroit will come in, and you want to encourage them to stick around to provide to the economy. So chipping in to help revitalize this area and bring more life to downtown isn't a bad use of government money. They need to do stuff like this in order to recover.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by getbak

This is what the area looks like now...

Looks like a great place to catch a hockey game and get murdered.

[WCW Nitro]

Weren't the new Tigers/Lions stadiums also supposed to revitalize downtown Detroit?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

One of the few rinks left with character.

Character is great, but so are clear sightlines from anywhere in the 300s.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by getbak

This is what the area looks like now...

For everyone that complains about the length of time to build a new Arena in Calgary - take a look at this photo. Getting land would be a breeze - hell they're probably begging someone to invest in that place.

Not so much in Calgary - the land needed is incredibly valuable and assembling the land for the deal is probably harder than the fun question of - how do we fund it? Just think of the complexities in trying to put together the land swap / purchase deals for the West Village. Then dealing with the traffic and infrastructure issues. Then dealing with the commercial real estate side of it. Then dealing with City and Community approvals.

If building an arena in Calgary was as simple as finding an available plot of land and building, I'm sure we'd have one by now. It just might be in Balzac...

Hey is that Edmonton in the photo?