Sonics Owner Wants to Play 'Build me a new Arena or else!!!!' Game

If the City of Seattle/King County/Washington State Politicos couldn't/wouldn't help finance a newly renovated & expanded KEY ARENA when the Starbucks dude owned the team, why will things change with the new owner of the Sonics (who is from Oklahoma City) ? ? A new arena is going to cost over $500 million and he wants the taxpayers to cough up 2/3 of the cost. Hmmm, I wonder what the color scheme of the Oklahoma City Sonics could be ? ? ?


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Owner: New Sonics arena would cost $500 million

Associated Press

SEATTLE -- A delayed plan for a state-of-the-art arena in the Seattle suburbs that would seat approximately 18,500 and cost more than $500 million -- including $300 million from taxpayers -- will reach the state Legislature by month's end, SuperSonics and Storm owner Clay Bennett said on Thursday.

Bennett told The Associated Press the luxurious arena -- to be built in either Renton across the street from a retail development known as "The Landing," or in Bellevue along a business stretch called "Auto Row" -- would house the Sonics and Storm professional basketball teams, high-profile concerts and potentially national political conventions, college basketball's Final Four championships -- maybe even the Grammy Awards.

"What we have found is an extremely complex proposition," Bennett said of a plan he had intended to present to lawmakers at the beginning on their current session on Jan. 8.

The chief complexity? Money.

In a letter Bennett sent to Gov. Chris Gregoire Thursday and then shared with The Associated Press, the teams will ask for at least $300 million in public tax money be put toward the arena.

Bennett said he will ask the Legislature to authorize an extension of the one-half of one percent hotel, restaurant and rental car tax inside King County that baseball's Mariners used to help fund Safeco Field, which opened in 1999. He said the team will contribute its own money, though he said how much is still being determined.

Trent House, director of government affairs for the Washington Restaurant Association, said in Olympia, Wash., on Thursday that the restaurant tax was scheduled to run through 2015, but the Safeco Field construction bonds that the tax is helping to pay will expire in 2012.

"In our minds, we've done our part [after the plan is presented in Olympia in two weeks]," Bennett said. "It's up to leadership and the public to decide if this is what they want."

If they don't, Bennett reiterated he has "options" -- a clause in the $350 million purchase contract for the Sonics and Storm that Bennett signed last July which states if a new arena in the Seattle area is not agreed upon by Oct. 31, 2007, the teams can move to Oklahoma City. That is the hometown of Bennett and his seven co-investors in the NBA's Sonics and WNBA's Storm.

 

Isn't Key Arena pretty new or did they just rename it. I forgot what the old place was called.

 

I don't think it's new. They did some upgrades to it a while back. But I think it's still pretty outdated.

 

it's like 45 years old, probably the oldest in the NBA

 

At least we can mark off Oklahoma City as an eventual destination for the Bobcats, maybe.

The Sacramento Kings are going through the same thing, they want to move to Las Vegas.

 

It was originally the SEATTLE CENTER COLISEUM, which opened in 1962 for the WORLD'S FAIR. It was renovated back in 1995 (skyboxes were added, arena floor was dropped to add a upper deck & improve sightlines, etc.)

 

I can't imagine that actually hapenning. They are crazy about the Kings in Sacramento.

 

Yeah, and they voted down big time an arena referendum this past November. It would've been built in downtown Sactown. Rumor has it that the Maloofs (owners of the Kings) didn't heavily promote the passing of the referendum because they really want to move the team to Las Vegas eventually (where they own the PALMS Hotel & Casino).

 

Yup, & ARCOs gettin' old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arco_Arena