Seattle investor has plans to build downtown arena

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by C_of_Red28

If Seattle gets a team.. Please name them the Seattle Whalers! Be great to have the Whalers back and would be a good rival for vancouver. Orca vs whalers

Yeah that would go over really well. Great idea.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

You know as well as I Seattle traffic is a constant gong show and while you can get over the lake in 15 to 20 minutes it can also take an hour if some schmoe rear ends someone, if you want people in the business community to attend a game you keep the arena downtown and they go for dinner after work then walk to the game followed by a cocktail or beer after in the downtown, shove it in Bellevue and it is no nearer to anyone and it sits in an entertainment wasteland (Glendale), the best thing about Seattle is the centralised nature of its entertainment district, it may take hours to plow down the through the I.5 but at least once you get there you can dump the car and reach everything pretty well on foot.

Longest, sentence, in, history.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Longest, sentence, in, history.

slowwwwwwest witty riposte in history.

[seattleflamer]

From the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...seattle_s.html

Hansen who is interested in building a new arena and bring back the NBA is going to have a tidy profit from the upcoming Facebook IPO:

Seattle basketball fans may have a reason to cheer for Facebook's upcoming public stock offering.
One of the early investors who stands to make a quick fortune on the deal is Chris Hansen, the San Francisco hedge fund manager trying to develop a new arena in Seattle and bring an NBA team back to town.
Hansen bought private Facebook stock in 2010 that's worth up to $1.27 billion at the high end of Facebook's IPO plan, according to a Forbes story. It estimates that Hansen paid up to $500 million for the shares.

[seattleflamer]

Bump...

From today's Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._arena16m.html

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, County Executive Dow Constantine and hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen are expected to announce Wednesday morning they are sending legislation to the city and county councils to finance a new, $490 million sports arena in Sodo.

The process keeps chugging along and the stars are aligning with the Sacramento Kings deal falling through in April.

Headwinds include a skeptical county and city council as well as the Mariners and the Port of Seattle having some serious reservations with increased traffic congestion.

[Coach]

At this point it doesn't look the Coyotes are moving, at least for a few years. What other city would people most like to see moved to Seattle? My vote would go to Florida, but I imagine people have other ideas.

[sevenarms]

Originally Posted by MattyC

At this point it doesn't look the Coyotes are moving, at least for a few years. What other city would people most like to see moved to Seattle? My vote would go to Florida, but I imagine people have other ideas.

Expansion is also a big possibility.

[mrdonkey]

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, County Executive Dow Constantine and hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen are expected to announce Wednesday morning they are sending legislation to the city and county councils to finance a new, $490 million sports arena in Sodo.

...?

[dash_pinched]

[JerryUnderscore]

Originally Posted by sevenarms

Expansion is also a big possibility.

A 2015 Seattle & Quebec expansion would be great.

[seattleflamer]

Originally Posted by MattyC

At this point it doesn't look the Coyotes are moving, at least for a few years. What other city would people most like to see moved to Seattle? My vote would go to Florida, but I imagine people have other ideas.

I think it is expansion or bust if PHX or Atlanta are any indication.

The NHL's MO obviously is to exhaust every local option before considering a relocation even if it doesn't make any financial sense in the short term ie. PHX.

[Rutuu]

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/201...h-better-deal/

In short, there are two key differences between the Seattle deal and the Edmonton deal. The first, the big, eye-catching one, is a huge difference between the money paid by the public sector and the private sector, illustrated by the charts above (this includes the $25 million spent on arena land in the case of Edmonton, to match the money spent on arena land in Seattle).
The second huge difference are the conditions. Seattle gets a more beneficial arrangement for their old arena. All of Seattle’s money comes in the form of loans that are repaid directly from arena revenue. In Seattle’s case, the private money is borrowed privately, rather than from the city. Seattle has no hidden subsidy through a “marketing agreement.” All of Seattle’s public money has already been accounted for.
In Seattle, the public governments involved seem to have negotiated a heck of a deal. In Edmonton, the private investors involved seem to have negotiated a heck of a deal

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by Walter Reed

Seattle Starbuck's

That's sure to attract lawyers. How about the...

Seattle Starpucks?

[hwy19man]

Some news on the arena in Seattle.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/nba/story/2012/06/14/sp-rally-held-in-seattle-for-new-nba-arena.html

[Alberta_Beef]

I am a fan of the NHL in Seattle, I hope they get the arena built.

[Coach]

Agreed. I think its an untapped market rhat would be great for hockey. Much better than PHX or FLA.

[dash_pinched]

Don Levin says he has $100 million to put into a NHL arena in Bellevue...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm....html?tw_p=twt

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

I think a team in Bellevue would be a mistake. It's too out of the way in my opinion (someone from Seattle feel free to correct me).

Why don't the two arena projects join forces?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Why don't the two arena projects join forces?

$

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.

[Stealth22]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

I think a team in Bellevue would be a mistake. It's too out of the way in my opinion (someone from Seattle feel free to correct me).

+1..I haven't been to Seattle, but I think it's a bit like the Glendale situation in Phoenix, although to a lesser extent.