Seattle investor has plans to build downtown arena

[868904]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

$

I think one guy, mr. 100 million is looking for concessions, either real-estate or financial, and jumping on this bandwagon is a good way to get it.

For instance, the Acquilinis just got a nice 30 million dollar subsidy from the City of Vancouver to build new condos. Being the owner of a city sports franchise is a good way to grease the wheels.

Why have one arena when you can have two for twice the price and not have to be the little sister to the main owner?

I don't think the league will go for it, but it's puts him on the radar and gets his name associated with this project.

I think Bellevue is bad, too. I know some people will argue that it's not too far of a drive from Seattle etc, but I think most of those people are the same people who say it only takes 15 minutes to get from Bum-Fark-Nowhere, Suburb of Calgary. Seattle traffic is awful, having an arena in the city, preferably near the water/industrial area, and approving rapid transit projects is the ideal way to go, in my opinion.

Some civic planner will probably chime in and make me eat my shorts, but, makes sense to me.

Bellevue might as well be Airdrie in my mind.

I think it's stupid to have an arena away from the core and transit. If you have a winning team, sure it might be ok, but if your team sucks, good luck filling those seats.

I think the Senators had that problem for years with poor attendance and a losing team situated out in Kanata. Only in recent years have they developed an actual devoted fan base that is willing to attend games to support a competitive team.

As for Phoenix, need we say more? Even with a winning team, they still can't draw.

[trumpethead]

Is Wayne Gretzky involved?? Sounds like he might be?? Either that or he is a big Mariners fan.

http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2012/0...tle-situation/

[TheContact]

Bellevue is a slightly strange location, but the population here isn't completely concentrated in the city of Seattle. The eastside, with Bellevue and Redmond is home to Microsoft, Nintendo, and a host of other companies, so there's a lot of commuting that goes on between the two areas.

To put it in perspective, with no traffic it's a 10 minute drive (with traffic it can be upwards of 40 minutes, but even within the city you can spend that kind of time in traffic). It's not way out in the middle of nowhere or anything, just across Lake Washington. Heck, I just made this journey in the middle of rush hour and the drive was half-spent in Seattle and half-spent on the freeway to the eastside.

Population wise, King County (which includes Bellevue and Seattle) has a population of nearly 2 million people, while Seattle itself represents only ~600,000 of that. Large, but by no means a majority. So Bellevue isn't totally a crazy spot.

While it's semi-convenient to have all the stadiums in the same place, the traffic situation there is already a nightmare. Having to manage schedules between all the teams might get pretty nasty.

That said, I'm not sold that Seattle can support a team here longterm. I find it hard to imagine a strong hockey following (unlike with soccer, which had a large fan-base here well before the Sounders appeared).

[Saddledome]

Seattle Seahocks.

Like Micro Soft.

[FlyingDonutz]

Canada is where the money's at... honestly... Move a team to Saskatoon..

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

The Thunderbirds must be thrilled.

[saskflames69]

Originally Posted by FlyingDonutz

Canada is where the money's at... honestly... Move a team to Saskatoon..

Yeah.. good luck with that.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by FlyingDonutz

Canada is where the money's at... honestly... Move a team to Saskatoon..

You keep saying that as if it isn't a foolish suggestion.

At any rate, I would think that if you are going to build in a suburb, going south of Seattle would be preferable to east. The Seatac area would make it easier for people in Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma to get to games.

Kent is a good location for the Thunderbirds for that same reason.

[sureLoss]

Bump:

Seattle city council has approved the arena to be built

http://www.kgw.com/news/business/Fin...169304716.html

A deal has been reached between the Seattle City Council and the investor group led by Chris Hansen on the financial terms that would put a new sports arena near Safeco Field, multiple sources confirm.

An official announcement by city council members outlining the terms of the agreement is expected Tuesday. A key multi-million dollar concession by Hansen, which could see his investor group spend more out-of-pocket to build the arena, appears to have brought reluctant councilmembers onboard with the project.

Transportation lies at the heart of the revised agreement. In the Memorandum of Understanding entered into earlier this year with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine, Hansen pledged $290 million of private money to build the NBA/NHL facility in SODO. That original plan envisioned the city and county issuing $200 million in bonds to finance the remaining costs of the project (a one-team scenario would have involved only a $120 million investment by the city and county). Hansen pledged that arena revenue would be sufficient to pay off the bond debt, thus resulting in no risk to taxpayers.

To get that deal through the city council, sources said Hansen agreed to establish a $40 million transportation fund, which would come out of the publicly financed pool of money. He has also agreed to spend $7 million on KeyArena, aided by revenue from an NBA or NHL team that would use the facility while the SODO arena is being built. The money, which would also support planning for KeyArena's future, would also come out of the publicly financed portion.

Sources said the Council will commit to financing up to $145 million in bonded debt rather than $120 million in a one-team scenario. Council leaders are said to believe that the transportation portion of the deal will help secure matching funds from the state, federal government or the Port of Seattle.

[Lil Pedro]

Interesting, I think an NHL team in Seattle would be awesome. Would likely mean the Thunderbirds would have to relocate somewhere else in the WHL

[dash_pinched]

I'm glad to hear that this has been approved and that it is planned to be built in the SoDo area (close to Safeco Field and CenturyLink). Now get those shovels in the ground ASAP.

[nik-]

Man, it must be painful for the Supersonics fans ... a few years too late and they get to watch their team in the finals.

[trumpethead]

This is great news. I wholeheartedly support any initiative that creates an opportunity for an entirely new fan base to despise the Vancouver Canucks.

[Joborule]

Guess us three teams in Western Canada are gonna have a new rival soon.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Lil Pedro

Interesting, I think an NHL team in Seattle would be awesome. Would likely mean the Thunderbirds would have to relocate somewhere else in the WHL

There's also a team in Everett and the T-Birds actually play in Kent. I think the teams can co-exist.

[Coach]

Move Phoenix to Seattle. Right now. Before a deal gets approved for 10 years or something.

[saskflames69]

Maybe Frasier can do the play-by-play!

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Move Phoenix to Seattle. Right now. Before a deal gets approved for 10 years or something.

Just listening to Prime Time Sports and this Seattle reporter says there is no way the Key Centre could be used for NHL hockey and the new arena won't be ready for 3 or 4 years. The NBA can be moved in but no NHL, so the NHL will be more of an afterthought. The guy was very very enthusiastic about getting the NHL though and said they'd be a natural rival for Vancouver.

[saskflames69]

Give them an expansion franchise and contract the Coyotes.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by saskflames69

Give them an expansion franchise and contract the Coyotes.

Why contract them when they can go to Quebec City.