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Post by mikecubs on May 3, 2016 15:45:04 GMT -6
Seattle City Council kills sale of street for Sodo arena; Sonics fans despairThe Seattle City Council on Monday voted 5-4 to reject giving up part of Occidental Avenue South to Chris Hansen so he can build a half-billion-dollar arena in Sodo in hopes of reviving the Sonics. Stunned gasps emerged from a crowd at Seattle City Hall on Monday as Councilmember M. Lorena González cast a decisive vote that could effectively torpedo a proposed Sodo District arena. In a 5-4 decision, the Seattle City Council voted against giving up part of Occidental Avenue South to entrepreneur Chris Hansen for his arena. Though a Memorandum of Understanding between Hansen, the city and King County runs through November 2017, odds of a new deal being struck by then seem remote. In a statement put out on Hansen’s SonicsArena.com website, he said, “Today’s City Council vote was disappointing but we don’t believe it is the end of the road in our quest to bring the NBA and NHL back to Seattle.” Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, a former prosecutor who spearheaded opposition to vacating the street, is said by sources to have lobbied her female colleagues hard in recent days to sway their votes. “I’ve been talking to all of them for a month,’’ Bagshaw said. Mayor Ed Murray put out a statement shortly after the vote saying: “Today’s council vote makes it less likely that the NBA will return to the city of Seattle.” He said he remains committed to exploring options for bringing the NBA and NHL to our region. Bagshaw said those options should now include the city’s taking a more serious look at renovating KeyArena up to NBA and NHL standards. A report last year by the AECOM global architectural firm indicated that could be done for $285 million. “We can do a cost-benefit analysis,’’ she said. “We can look to see if it can work. We can look to our partners and say ‘Is this something that you want to do?’ And we’re going to have to point to the Port and ask them to help. They were making a lot of noise about ‘We want our Port to survive’ and all of us want that. So, we’ll see what we can do together.’’ Bagshaw, who wouldn’t take personal credit for the swaying of votes, said she’d woken up Monday feeling the motion to give up Occidental would go 7-2 in favor. She knew that she and Lisa Herbold opposed the motion, but Councilmembers González, Kshama Sawant and Debora Juarez remained undecided until the very end. One source said the three female council members who were undecided had become increasingly put off in recent days by the personal attacks Bagshaw was taking from male sports fans on social media and certain talk-show hosts on Sports Radio KJR. But they also gave impassioned speeches before their votes, siding with the unionized workers from the Port of Seattle.Sawant was particularly fiery, blasting what she called the bureaucracy of the Port’s management and quoting a past U.S. Attorney’s description of it as a “cesspool of corruption.’’ But she also ripped into “the barons who control our professional sports teams’’ and pit sports fans against working-class jobs. “I am in solidarity not with the Port of Seattle,’’ she said, “but with the Port workers and the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) who are trying to stand up against these forces of gentrification.’’ Sawant said she didn’t like being put in a position where she has to pick sports jobs against other jobs. “I do want to help bring back the Sonics, but I cannot do that on the basis of undermining our working waterfront and good-paying unionized industrial jobs,’’ she said. Just before Sawant’s speaking, Juarez had upped the tension in the room, indicating a “no” vote with a speech highlighting the value of Seattle’s deep-water Port and contrasting it against an arena plan that lacked a confirmed team. “You can always build an arena,’’ Juarez said. “You can build three arenas, you can build five arenas. You can build them anywhere. But you cannot build another deep-water port. You cannot do that. You cannot replace history or tradition.’’ Then, with Sawant’s back-and-forth speech finally indicating a fourth “no” that deadlocked the council, all attention turned to González. She still had to wait for a couple of male colleagues to speak, but Bruce Harrell, Tim Burgess, Rob Johnson and Mike O’Brien had already indicated before Monday they’d be voting in favor. Finally, it was González’s turn, and the room fell silent. The first-term council member, whose addition of a late amendment to the motion was seen by some as a sign she might vote in favor, did not tip her hand during the early part of her speech. But things shifted when she talked about how, as a West Seattle resident, she had to battle daily through Sodo traffic. “I don’t believe the traffic issues have been well dealt with’’ when it came to complaints of how removing Occidental would impact Port operations, she said. With that, she announced her intention to oppose the motion — prompting spontaneous cheers from various unionized workers and Port officials in attendance. Sonics fans clad in green and gold sat stunned, one with his head in his hands, before slowly trudging out of the room. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told The Seattle Times last month that the league first must get through its collective-bargaining process — which could take until next year — before even beginning expansion talk. Hansen’s funding arrangement would have provided him up to $200 million in public bond money, but only if he first landed an NBA team before the MOU expiration in November 2017. An amendment that would have required Hansen to acquire an NBA team even for a privately funded venture was defeated before the final vote. Had the street removal been approved, Hansen would have had up to five years to build an arena — even after his public funding deal ran out. But not anymore. Port Commissioner Fred Felleman said after the vote he was as surprised as anybody in the room by the turn of events. “This is not a recognition that we don’t want the Sonics,’’ he said. “I think everybody is pro-Sonics. This was just not the place to do it.’’ www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/seattle-city-council-kills-sale-of-street-for-sodo-arena/
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Post by mikecubs on May 3, 2016 15:51:51 GMT -6
Seattle is a F***ing joke. They had a guy willing to build basically an almost free arena and they turned it down. There's no way you can build an arena in the city of Seattle anywhere. It's just not the port that is the problem but the city council women don't like male sports. Too macho! Plus the council worships Key arena and no one is going to invest $285M to renovate that pig. There are no development opportunities either around Key and the traffic their is worst than SODO.
Suburban arenas don't work and those are the only possibilities for Seattle area. Both the NBA and NHL should pass on Seattle. Especially the NHL. Given that Seattle would be one of the smallest 4 teams markets, never had NHL and any arena would be 100% private in Bellevue or Tukwila the NHL would be a 100% disaster.
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Post by mikecubs on Jun 20, 2016 8:25:50 GMT -6
As Trail Blazers Hire Kevin Calabro, Does It Set The Table For Move To ROOT Sports NW?When word broke that the Portland Trail Blazers had fired three long-standing members of their broadcast team earlier this week, sports talk radio in the city known as “Bridge Town” went into overdrive. Not only were hosts asking why Blazers President and CEO Chris McGowan had pulled the plug on the popular TV broadcast team of Mike Barrett and Mike Rice, as well as radio color analyst Antonio Harvey, but so did the fans. As basketball markets go, the Blazers see some of the most dedicated fans in all of the NBA, so anger seemed to override acceptance of the move. McGowan made the local sports radio rounds and explained that the club was looking to go in a new direction. Only Blazers radio play-by-play man Brian Wheeler would be left after the firings. As one that resides in Portland and appears each week on AM 620 RipCity Radio, I looked to size it all up. When McGowan noted that with the vacuum created by the relocation of the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City as the rechristened Thunder, the Blazers have become not just Portland’s team, but a regional sports entity reaching north into Seattle.I, and others, immediately thought of long-time Sonics broadcaster Kevin Calabro filling the void on the television front, and today the Blazers made that official. “Many people in our organization have admired Kevin through his work with the Sonics and ESPN, so we reached out to gauge interest and begin conversations during our playoff series with the Golden State Warriors,” said McGowan to Casey Holdahl of NBA.com. “After several long conversations we determined there was mutual interest and were able to work towards a deal that was just finalized.” “I knew that there were going to be some changes and it was just kind of laid out to me in broad strokes, that they were going to make some changes and was I interested,” said Calabro to Holdahl. “I said ‘Yeah, this is something I would be interested in talking to you about,’ about getting back with a club in some sort of capacity. It went from there. And then the fact that it’s in my backyard, 150 miles away, easily accessible for my kids and my wife… it just couldn’t have worked out any better. I go back to the Sonics in ’87, so I remember the great Blazers teams of the ’90’s and later on in 2000 and so forth. I’ve always, from afar, thought it would be an interesting organization to work for, always been cutting edge when it comes to television production. I just think it’s something that’s going to be beneficial, certainly to me and my family, and hopefully it will be to the Blazers as well.” Those in Portland may be scratching their head on all of this, but it plays into some larger aspects. The Blazers’ contact with Comcast NW is up after next season, and that has made many wonder if the club will move over to ROOT Sports Northwest. CSN NW has had difficulties gaining carriage beyond Comcast, so moving to ROOT Sports NW would increase TV market visibility. The network sees the Seattle Mariners as majority partners with DirecTV. A move to ROOT Sports NW gets coverage to DirecTV, a sizeable audience growth,McGowan on RipCity Radio dismissed the broadcast team firing and new larger investment in a new team as the driver in moving to ROOT Sports NW, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t provide the pieces in place if they should. For ROOT Sports NW, the Blazers would be a massive programming addition for the Fall and Spring months. Back to the regional aspect, Calabro fits into it all neatly. He becomes a familiar face in Seattle, and that lends itself to the Blazers growing market size into the city. That, and Calabro has a national footprint since leaving the Sonics. He’s had gigs on ESPN Radio, NBATV, TNT and the Pac-12 Networks. The question now becomes, who will be the color analyst to work with Calabro on Blazer broadcasts? McGowan has said that unless Wheeler sees it as difficult, he’ll be doing Blazer radio broadcasts solo for the upcoming season (one has to wonder if the firing of Antonio Harvey had anything to do with this). One would suspect that with McGowan saying the Blazers have planned on investing on the broadcast side, which is clear with the Calabro signing, a prominent ex-Blazer may be considered. If not a Blazer, one that has ties to the region. As the Seattle Mariners and Seahawks have claimed Portland as their second largest market, so too are the Blazers seeking to make Seattle part theirs by reaching north to Seattle. Calabro plays into that. Only time will tell if the moves this year play into a larger aspect as the Blazers TV deal gets renewed.www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2016/06/17/as-trail-blazers-hire-kevin-calabro-does-it-set-the-table-for-move-to-root-sports-nw/2/#646386b1d921
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Post by mikecubs on Jun 20, 2016 8:40:05 GMT -6
LOL how low can Seattle go?
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Post by swervinmervin on Feb 20, 2017 14:22:53 GMT -6
www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/chris-hansen-remains-confident-about-building-arena-for-nba-nhl-teams/More than five years into efforts to get a new arena built in Seattle, Chris Hansen remains confident that his goal of being the facilitator for getting the NBA and NHL to Seattle will ultimately be realized. Even if that means dipping even deeper into his pocket to offer up a privately financed facility. “We view that as a civic obligation to protect that and ensure that we do our part in bringing a team back,” Hansen said. “It was with that mindset, we’re not a for-profit enterprise that is attempting to generate a certain level of return on capital as we look at this project to justify it. We’re like, ‘What can we do just to make this work for the city and hopefully if we do that part, in the really long term it will work out for us.’ ” Hansen spoke with The Associated Press on Thursday, his first extended interview since the Seattle City Council denied a needed street closure last May that was part of a proposal that included a public contribution to the arena project. The ‘no’ vote forced Hansen’s group to reevaluate the best way to move forward. Featured Video Mariners incorporate nets into pitchers fielding practice (1:49) Most Read Stories Mexico City is a parched and sinking capital Students frustrated trying to get into UW’s strict engineering program Officials say damage to sewage plant in Discovery Park is catastrophic T-Mobile one-ups Verizon’s new unlimited data plan; 4Q results top forecasts Nordstrom’s big, beautiful stores are losing ground VIEW Save 75% on digital access today. “I was surprised that other people didn’t see it that way but then again that’s what is great about a process like this, is you get to take in everybody’s different opinions and considerations into account and we had an opportunity to de-risk it for the city a little bit more and do a little bit more,” said Hansen, who declined an interview request by The Seattle Times. “Things happen for a reason.” Hansen also decried the reaction disappointed fans had toward the councilmembers after last year’s surprising vote and said his group has a responsibility to “head that off” in the future if another vote goes against his proposal. “All the misogynistic comments that came out about the councilmembers was just way out of line,” Hansen said. “I think it caught everybody off-guard that was in the process.” The answer for moving ahead ended up being a privately financed proposal that may ease the concerns of the same city officials. Hansen said his group, which currently has five public members including Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, will have an equity stake in the arena and a possible NBA franchise. He also reiterated the group has held discussions with parties interested in bringing the NHL to Seattle, but any group interested in hockey must be willing to pay the cost of the franchise and also have contribute a financial stake in the arena. “We haven’t attempted to bid on an NHL team. Bidding on an NHL team is their own responsibility,” Hansen said. Hansen must again go before the same City Council to move his privately proposed project forward since the same street closure that was denied a year ago must still be approved for construction to begin. Hansen has also pledged that no arena construction will begin until a team has been secured. He offered to help pay for transportation improvements in the area of the proposed facility. Hansen’s group has just resubmitted its plans. The city is also currently looking at a possible renovation of KeyArena, the former home of the SuperSonics. The city issued a request for proposals for modernizing the arena in January and they’re due April 12. Two groups — Oak View Group and AEG — have stated they intend to submit proposals for the arena that could include the potential for housing a professional sports franchise. While supporting the city’s intent to examine options for the city-owned arena, Hansen cautioned that he believes the project at KeyArena could take several years. Hansen said his group fully supports the idea of KeyArena as a music and entertainment venue, but viewing the project as a sports facility could ultimately delay potential opportunities for the NBA or NHL. “I think if there is the opportunity for the NBA or NHL to expand in the interim, having our project, which is a couple of votes away from being 100 percent shovel-ready, is a lot different prospect to the NBA or the NHL if something is ready to happen now, then sitting back and watching a process that could take a very long time,” Hansen said. TIM BOOTH
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Post by swervinmervin on Feb 20, 2017 14:23:33 GMT -6
www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/some-questions-to-ask-sodo-arena-proponent-chris-hansen/There are specific questions I would ask Sodo arena proponent Chris Hansen if interviewing him. The biggest surrounds why he is asking the city to grant him a shovel-ready arena plan when he lacks the financing to execute his vision. SECTION SPONSOR Geoff BakerBy Geoff Baker Seattle Times staff reporter Inside sports business Sodo arena proponent Chris Hansen flew into town last week and made the local media rounds, as he does every year or so. And last Monday, I resubmitted my standing interview request to Hansen’s local representative, Rollin Fatland, when we crossed paths at a meeting of the Seattle Uptown Alliance. As he has since my first interview request in May 2014 — shortly after being assigned the arena story — Hansen did not respond. Getting declined for interviews is part of the job. That said, there are specific questions I’d ask Hansen if interviewing him. Featured Video The Mariners' starting rotation and closer Edwin Diaz throw bullpen sessions (5:34) Most Read Stories Mexico City is a parched and sinking capital Students frustrated trying to get into UW’s strict engineering program Officials say damage to sewage plant in Discovery Park is catastrophic T-Mobile one-ups Verizon’s new unlimited data plan; 4Q results top forecasts Nordstrom’s big, beautiful stores are losing ground VIEW Save 75% on digital access today. The biggest surrounds why he is asking the city to grant him a “shovel-ready” arena plan when he lacks the financing to execute his vision. Remember, Hansen wants to own both the arena and NBA team that would play there. That’s at least a $1.5 billion proposition and likely more. And Hansen’s group, by his own admission, can’t afford it without additional investors. To be fair, some have asked Hansen in interviews why he wants a “shovel-ready” arena. And some have asked separate questions about whether he plans to add investors. Hansen says he needs to be sold part of Occidental Avenue South to be “shovel ready” in case NBA teams become available. He has said he plans to eventually take on new investors, and that getting them will be a snap compared with actually securing teams. That raises the obvious follow-up question: If getting those new investors is so simple, why not take them on now? After all, that would give Hansen’s group a more formidable look as he pitches the city and NBA for things they have been reluctant to give him. Having billionaire Steve Ballmer leave his group to buy the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 hasn’t helped. After nearly three years of being asked about Ballmer replacements, Hansen has produced only Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson — likely more for name value than money. That has caused skittishness for city politicians who keep hearing from the NBA that expansion isn’t close. City-council members voted down Hansen’s initial request for Occidental in May, citing no available teams. They noted NBA commissioner Adam Silver didn’t help Hansen’s cause by stating just 11 days before the vote that expansion wasn’t imminent. And they were right to be concerned, since, nearly a year later, Silver and NBA owners such as the Dallas Mavericks’ Mark Cuban say expansion isn’t being discussed. In other words, the urgency Hansen says exists and justifies a “shovel-ready” plan as soon as possible isn’t supported by anything. Thus it’s fair to ask whether Hansen wants Occidental because he believes expansion is right around the corner. Or does he plan to use “shovel-ready” status to lure additional investors he has yet to secure? That’s no small question. And it’s on the minds of city officials who keep questioning why they should give Hansen anything. Sports developers typically have financing lined up when asking cities for public assets such as streets. Cities typically aren’t in the business of helping private entrepreneurs attract missing investors. The city is reluctant to tie up Occidental and — more important — the surrounding Sodo neighborhood for years while Hansen chases teams not available. Even if he doesn’t build anything until getting teams, conditionally vacating Occidental puts area businesses and industry in a state of indefinite planning limbo as they wait on whether an 18,000-seat arena will be plunked down in their midst. So, yes, I’d ask Hansen why he doesn’t just line up new financing right now to ease such concerns. After all, he says it won’t be a problem. And playing things his way has yet to work. After that, I’d ask Hansen about the Fortune magazine story published about his Valiant Capital Partners hedge fund a week after the May city-council vote. The New York-based story was about Valiant inflating its assets — and understating financial losses — compared with how other hedge funds valued those same holdings. Next, I’d ask about the Reuters report from 12 months ago that Hansen’s fund was taking on fresh capital for the first time since 2012 to offset investors cashing out of it. Finally, I’d ask about last month’s Institutional Investor story stating the fund lost more than 10 percent from November through December to finish the year in the red for only the second time in its existence. To be clear, hedge funds can mostly value assets however they like. There’s also nothing nefarious about taking on new cash or declaring losses. But all three stories, part of the public record, speak to Hansen’s financial capacity and should be part of any interview. The NBA, for starters, cares deeply about the financial capacity of future owners. If the league opens an expansion process tomorrow, Hansen’s investor-group makeup and financial status would be the first things reviewed. So, answering such questions by showing he can secure needed project financing right now probably would take Hansen further. It might get him Occidental by convincing city officials he isn’t using them just to lure investors. It also might also convince the NBA to actually award Hansen a franchise down the road once expansion becomes a league priority. Geoff Baker writes a column on sports business. Baker:gbaker@seattletimes.com or 206-464-8286. On Twitter @geoffbakertimes
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Post by swervinmervin on Feb 20, 2017 14:26:27 GMT -6
Interesting to follow this story, especially in light of the ongoing issues with the Islanders, Hurricanes, and Coyotes.
Sure doesn't sound like Seattle is in any position for an NHL franchise, anytime soon. Certainly not on short notice for a relocation.
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 20, 2017 15:03:30 GMT -6
Theoretically IF Seattle did the right thing this summer and approved SODO and rejected Key construction could start and a team could play temporarily at Key but I don't trust the idiot city council to do the right thing.
Geoff Baker is a hack and a stooge for the Port of Seattle. NOT RELIABLE. DO NOT POST ANYTHING FROM HIM! The Port, Seattle times(Baker) and the city council who are on the Port of Seattle payroll are trying to force an idiot Key Arena renovation because the port wants the land that hansen bought for the arena. That's what this is about.
The part about Hansen not having investors in stupid. Russell Wilson has invested, he has the Nordstroms etc... There is no way Hansen would be idiot enough to buy all the land and put the money into this that he already has if he didn't have the money for a team. This is a total 100% garbage piece.
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 20, 2017 15:07:00 GMT -6
One other thing to keep in mind. Say Hansen doesn't have investors. Then the arena simply doesn't get built since it will be 100% private financing. So it's no skin off the city's nose if that was true.
Also as far as a key arena renovation, there is no public transport until 2034. The arena is a cluckerpuck transportation wise right now since it's in a neighborhood. Also AEG at best can only expand the footprint to 600,000 square feet. That's woefully short of a new arena. By AEG's own admission they will be doing the "bear minimum" by league standards. If Key is approved it will take 7 freaking years with construction/final approvals etc... If SODO is approved they can break ground the second a team is acquired.
Last week Hansen went on a media blitz in Seattle along with Russell Wilson. He meet individually with some city council members. The one who flipped her vote to no was very receptive at least publically and Russell Wilson really buttered her up on twitter. That's not to say she will change her mind but I think last week has the port nervous she might so that's what you get the Baker article above.
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 20, 2017 15:18:21 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 20, 2017 15:21:12 GMT -6
Here is a SODO vs. Key comparison There are reasons to doubt KeyArena can be redone for NBA and NHLOn Wednesday, a city-guided tour of KeyArena provided media and potential developers a close look at the former Sonics home. But it’s fair to wonder if traffic, parking and site questions can be solved.There was a stroll through the kitchen, a stop in the green room, and a view of the court from a suite. There were some history lessons, some architectural musings, and a walk past the buildings nearby. For nearly two hours Wednesday, a City of Seattle-guided tour of KeyArena provided media a detailed look at every nook and cranny of the Sonics’ former home. But it didn’t provide answers as to how the site could work as a modern-day NBA and NHL venue. And you have to wonder if those answers will ever come. Two weeks ago, Mayor Ed Murray and the City of Seattle issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) to renovate KeyArena, and as part of the process, gave potential bidders a formal tour. As a result, representatives from The Oak View Group and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) were on the Seattle Center site with media in tow. However, given that an overhaul to the facility would be a nine-figure investment, it’s safe to say this wasn’t the first time members from either group had taken a detailed look at the building and its peripheral structures. These developers have seen KeyArena before, but the question is — what do they see in KeyArena? No, I am not trying to dismiss the project with that query. When grand-slam hitters such as AEG and Oak View are involved, completely writing off the viability of a renovation would be as arrogant as it would be irresponsible. An AECOM report in June of 2015 suggested KeyArena could be modernized for $285 million. But that report hasn’t done much to quell criticism of the renovation — and those critics’ questions are valid. For instance: How would the revitalized arena accommodate parking? Garages that surrounded the Key during the Sonics days have since been replaced by housing and other businesses. Just going to a Storm or Seattle University basketball game these days can be a challenge for non-pedestrians, and those events typically draw, at best, less than half of what an NBA or NHL team would.“In our RFP, we’ve been very clear that we expect innovative proposals from potential bidders on the transportation,” said Brian Surratt, director of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. Translation: Let those guys figure it out. There are other questions, too. Can a building that’s more than 200,000 square feet smaller than the smallest arena in the NBA be renovated to meet modern standards?If the NBA does eventually expand, is there an ownership group that would bring a team to KeyArena? And given that nobody knows if or when the KeyArena roof will be declared a historic landmark, can a definitive proposal be written? As of now, the city asks that potential developers present a Plan A and Plan B based on whether the roof will be preserved, but considering that could mean the difference between tearing the building down or not, it’s sort of like writing a song not knowing if it’s going to be for Adele or Eminem. That’s a lot of uncertainty. What is certain is this: 1) It’s in our local government’s best interest to preserve KeyArena — a city-owned property — and find a way to make it relevant. 2) The proposal from Chris Hansen — who’s partnered with Wally Walker, Peter and Erik Nordstrom and Russell Wilson — to privately fund a Sodo arena is likely putting pressure on the city to act quickly. Does that mean KeyArena can’t work? No, it doesn’t mean that. As I said earlier, some of the biggest names in sports entertainment are looking hard at this project, and they wouldn’t be wasting their time if they didn’t see potential. But there are still myriad questions about KeyArena that haven’t been answered. There are still doubts that haven’t been mitigated. Who knows — perhaps any concerns about the viability of this renovation will disappear by April 12, the due date for proposals. Maybe previous skepticism will seem silly when an ingenious plan comes to light. But after the city gave a tour of present-day KeyArena Wednesday, it’s perfectly fair to wonder whether it will ever give a tour of a renovated one. www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/there-are-reasons-to-doubt-keyarena-can-be-redone-for-nba-and-nhl/
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 20, 2017 15:26:37 GMT -6
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/locking-up-keyarena-may-hurt-seattles-nba-chances/Key points Leasing the KeyArena to a developer-manager in hopes that an NBA team will follow and share facility revenue isn’t realistic, according to Roger Noll, a Stanford economics professor emeritus. “No, that’s a pipe dream,” he said. That’s also the view of Brad Humphreys, associate professor of business and economics at West Virginia University, who studied KeyArena and gave expert testimony when the Sonics left. “I would say it would substantially diminish the chances of getting an NBA team,” he said.
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Post by Bruinsfan on Feb 20, 2017 19:33:38 GMT -6
What is with this city counsel, why do they hate sports so much?
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 21, 2017 0:08:48 GMT -6
What is with this city counsel, why do they hate sports so much? 1. They are on the port payroll(this is the biggest reason) 2. The city council is made up of 7 people, 4 women 3 men. The 4 women voted against the arena because they don't like sports. The 3 men were for the arena. Have you ever had a girlfriend that hated sports and wouldn't let you watch it? That's them on steroids! I can't prove this but the pacific northwest is VERY white. Part of the reason why lot of people think Seattle would be good for the NHL. What diversity they have are asians. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they voted against it to keep a black sport like the NBA out. This whole thing boggles my mind the level of stupidity. It's like Glendale etc... but in reverse. What type of morons turn down a 100% free arena. LOL Usually the fight is over the amount of public $$$ the level and if any should be used at all. Here you have a saint willing to do a free arena and they treat it like the plaque.
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 21, 2017 0:10:46 GMT -6
THIEL: WHY HANSEN THINKS KEYARENA CAN’T WORKIn a one-on-one interview, Sodo arena developer Chris Hansen lays out his skepticism regarding KeyArena as a future home for the NBA, although he would bring a team there if he believed it would work. First of two parts The arena battle in Seattle has added drama with the arrival of two reputable national firms bidding to try to renovate KeyArena, the Sonics’ former home. But Chris Hansen has been there and done that exam. It was so long ago, 2011, people may have forgotten what he learned, and why he spent more than $125 million in Sodo real estate to put his arena there. In a one-on-one interview with me last week at a Pioneer Square coffee shop, Hansen spent an hour answering questions about the competing projects, including his willingness to bring a team to the city-owned Key operated by a third party — if it makes business sense. “My job is to bring a basketball team back here,” said Hansen, a Roosevelt High grad who has come to great wealth by managing hedge funds. “If it ends up working at Key, I’ll be happy to work with them. if they can build a world-class arena in the next two or three years. I’m 100 percent for it. “My worry, like with most sports fans, is they see how long it has taken our process. The Key would be another five- to seven-year process to get shovel-ready. If opportunities come up in the interim (for expansion or relocation), what’s gonna happen?” Rather than both projects being considered separately, Hansen said his new proposal, which includes a change to 100 percent private funding, can be green-lighted at any time with a street vacation of Occidental Avenue, even as the mayor’s office makes a decision on whether to build out or tear down the Key, or choose nothing, by a promised deadline of June 30. “We’re not going to act on the street until we have a team,” Hansen said. “If a team is available, (a retrofitted) Key wasn’t going to be ready anyway, right? If the option is a teardown, there’s really no way the Key is ready. If a team is available in the next eight to 12 months or longer, we can welcome them to the Key (with some Hansen-funded upgrades), and have our arena built within two years. “That’s a fundamentally different option for the city that increases the chances for success.” The two Los Angeles-area bidders, Anschutz Entertainment Group and Oak View Group, each will offer a remodel plan, plus an option for a teardown, by mid-April. Company spokespersons for each have said plans dictate creation first of a concert/entertainment arena, and then fit an NBA or NHL team later. Because AEG and OVG have financial interests in other teams and arenas, league bylaws prevent them from owning a Seattle team. That means a prospective team owner would enter a city-owned arena with a third-party operator servicing large construction debt, plus an events calendar filled with more lucrative concerts. Hansen thinks that limits on an owner’s ability to control revenue streams, which limits the interest in owning a team in such a set-up. “ If you were to survey owners in pro sports, most like to control their arena/stadium without a third-party operator,” he said. “Complications come up with, like putting money into a practice facility, or certain amenities (for players and fans).
“A sports owner may take a very long-term view of what those things mean to his franchise, in terms of attracting talent and fans, and a third-party operator is often going to be looking at the bottom line.”He said there’s a fundamental difference in priorities between his group and the Key bidders. AEG and OVG “are primarily in the music business,” he said. “They’re interested in building out their music platform in a great music city like Seattle. It’s commendable. Seattle deserves a world-class music venue. “Our goals are a little bit different. We’re interested in a world-class sports arena that can also be a world-class music arena.” Apart from the business model, there’s the more familiar potential physical limitations on the Key, which was renovated in 1995 with $100 million in public money. By 2001, the building was deemed financially obsolete for the ravenous NBA by Sonics owner Howard Schultz. He sold the team in 2006 to Oklahoma City robber barons, and you may have heard the rest. Hansen said he did with the Key in 2011 what he does with his day job as an investor in companies — due diligence that included interviews with current and former employees, former owners, architects and a lot of data analytics on parking and traffic ingress/egress. Three things we learned,” he said. “Traffic is a really big problem. Parking is even a bigger problem, which has only gotten worse since so much parking has been taken away (for residential/commercial development).
“And there is no streetcar/light rail that makes for easy connectivity to that area, and it doesn’t look like there are plans for awhile.”Hansen knew that the Key’s iconic roof would be eligible for landmark status after its 50th anniversary in 2012. The city is now pursuing a resolution with the landmarks commission, which should make a ruling before June 30. Hansen said the roof met all the criteria, and thus would have to be preserved in any remodel. “ If you keep the roofline, you can’t demolish,” Hansen said. “You have to retrofit. That limits the amount of square footage you can access. The site footprint is really small — 300,000 square feet. The next smallest NBA arena is 600,000 square feet. And it’s not just small seating capacity. The amenities that an NBA/NHL team requires — suites, restaurants, bars, social spaces — is very limited.“If you could demolish, that opens up to opportunity to perhaps put a 500,000-square-foot arena in there. But that arena would still lack things like a practice facility, adequate parking, adequate loading, adequate space for amenities that are increasingly important for live sports.” Since the ice sheet for hockey can take away 25 percent or more of the capacity for a basketball set-up, some architects believe that offsetting the hockey arena configuration can produce a capacity of 15,000 for hockey. Hansen is skeptical, based in part on the troubles the New York Islanders are having in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, which has an offset configuration.The Islanders moved from the aging Nassau Coliseum on Long Island two years ago to Barclays, which seats 15,800 for hockey, but some sight lines are poor. The Islanders are averaging less than 13,000 fans a game, and are reportedly looking for a new home. “ The NHL is likely not to be supportive of a permanent solution with an offset ice rink,” Hansen said. “You can see it didn’t work out in Brooklyn.”Perhaps the biggest impediment to the Key being home to a minimum of 82 winter-sports regular season games and sometimes more than 100 with playoffs, is the impact on the lower Queen Anne and South Lake Union neighborhoods, both of which have undergone extensive development since the Sonics’ departure in 2008. “When we compared Key to Sodo based on facts, and not anyone’s interpretation of facts, it seemed clear to us there was a lot more disruption to the community than we would incur at Sodo during construction,” Hansen said. “Then when we start bringing in 200 event nights with people leaving at 10 p.m. or later, we felt like that would cause a lot of friction. “In Sodo, there’s already two other stadiums here that handle much higher volumes of people that 18,000 at an arena. There’s no residential, and many businesses are closed by the time an event starts at 7 p.m.” Apprehension about a big expansion of events at the Key was reflected in a recent survey of neighborhood residents. The Uptown Alliance, a community group, received 800 responses from residents, workers, business owners and visitors to a written survey of several questions about the future of the Key. More than 53 percent of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their preference was to see the Key as a performance venue with the NBA/NHL sited elsewhere in the region.It should be noted that once the new Highway 99 tunnel is operational, three additional east-west streets will pass over the roadbed instead of only Denny Way, which should relieve some congestion around Seattle Center. Hansen also brought up the point that a successful bidder for a Key retrofit also picks up the city as a partner, as well the Seattle Center’s many constituencies that use the grounds. “We thought renovating the Key would take a really, really long time,” Hansen said. “It’s civic land that would have to be developed in conjunction with the city, rather than a private development. The city will be your partner in everything you do with construction. “That will just increase time and expense. It has nothing to do with sports; it’s true with any project.” sportspressnw.com/2230071/2017/thiel-why-hansen-thinks-keyarena-cant-work
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