The NHL has "received five requests for expansion bid applications," with Las Vegas, Quebec City, the Greater Toronto Area and two competing bids from Seattle "in the mix," according to Ken Campbell of THE HOCKEY NEWS. A source said that Hudson Pacific Properties President, CEO & Chair Victor Coleman "has definitely requested a bid package and intends to apply by the July 20 deadline" with the hope of bringing a team to Seattle. The other Seattle bid is "believed to be coming from" RLB Holdings Founder & Managing Partner Ray Bartoszek. There also are "apparently two groups looking at the possibility of building an arena in the affluent suburb of Bellevue, which is across Lake Washington from Seattle." The NHL, "apparently, wants to be in a downtown arena, which should give the edge to Coleman." But a downtown arena "might never become a reality because in order to get public funding, the arena needs a basketball tenant that might never be forthcoming." That is where Bartoszek, who is "trying to build an arena in nearby Tukwila, comes in." Tukwila is about 11 miles from downtown Seattle, but "might be the only viable option." While neither arena is "anywhere close to becoming a reality at the moment, the Tukwila proposal is further along." Meanwhile, sources confirmed that the NHL has "set an application fee" of $10M, $2M of which is "non-refundable" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 7/8).
ARENA ROCK: In Seattle, Geoff Baker reports Coleman and hedge fund manager Chris Hansen "have stepped up discussions on a financing plan that works for hockey" in an arena located in Seattle's Sodo District. The two "need such a plan to get the Seattle City Council to pass a resolution this fall paving the way for construction permits on a Sodo arena to be issued." For now, Hansen "has a deal with the city and county that provides" up to $200M in bond money "if he lands an NBA team." But with no NBA and only NHL, the deal "needs to be modified, and Mayor Ed Murray has told Hansen that can’t happen without more private money for the project." In Bartoszek’s case, questions "linger about his group’s ability to pay" $1B combined for an arena and team. But a local source said that Bartoszek "continues to have discussions with potential Seattle-area investors and is close to striking a deal" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/9).
