The NBA Kings yesterday "officially kicked off construction" of their $477M downtown arena, beginning an "all-out sprint to get the arena ready for the start" of the '16-17 NBA season, according to Kasler & Lillis of the SACRAMENTO BEE. The on-site workforce, which "totals around 60 employees now, will grow to a peak of 600 before the building opens." The late-morning groundbreaking, attended by "more than 200 community leaders, politicians, City Hall staffers and Kings owners, featured two of the men who figured most prominently in the arena project," Kings Managing Partner Vivek Ranadive and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. The floor of the construction site is "already at the level of the former underground parking garage." Kings President Chris Granger said that construction crews will "drill down another 10 feet or so before building the foundation." Meanwhile, Ranadive promised the crowd that the 17,500-seat arena will be "one of the most iconic structures on the planet." Kasler & Lillis note the event "took place hours before" the Kings opened their season against the Warriors in what is "expected to be their next-to-last year at aging Sleep Train Arena." While the new building is "supposed to open in 2016, the NBA has given the Kings’ a one-year grace period to finish construction." If the arena does not open by '17, the league "has the right to buy the Kings and move them out of town." That was a "condition for allowing the Ranadive group to buy the team and keep it from leaving Sacramento" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 10/30).
