Quote:
Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos
Maybe I'm missing something obvious here, but I don't see why they need to draw people to the area beyond just those events.
Who is going to go to the rink when there isn't a hockey game or a concert, no matter where it is? And if they do, I don't see what the Flames are going to get out of it.
The East Village has taken forever to get off the ground, but at least it is off the ground. There are a lot of young well-heeled people living in the towers within walking distance of the proposed location. It'll be at least 20 years before the same thing can be said about the West Village, and by then, CalgaryNext would be dated and the whole conversation about a new rink will be starting again.
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It's because the owners want to own and develop land nearby the arena. CalgaryNEXT was a proposal where the owners get everything they would want. New arena, new football stadium, and surrounding land that they could own and develop. Essentially, they would be making money every single day even if there wasn't a game going on.
With Victoria Park, surrounding land isn't as freely available. The big piece of undeveloped real estate north of 12th ave is owned by a company that does have plans for that already. Then south all of it is Stampede. The owners wouldn't be able to make money outside of game days in that area.
I could see why CSEC would really want CalgaryNEXT to work, because financially they would have so much to gain from it over Victoria Park. But it's just not realistic unless they're willing to drop down close to $1 billion for it. Then at that point, is it really worth it?