Sacramento Has Until Sept. 1 To Produce $255M For Kings' Arena, Avoid Default

Sacramento officials "expect to pony up" the city’s $255M share for the new NBA Kings arena by Sept. 1, but if the money is not in place by then, the club's lender, Goldman Sachs, has the "right to declare a default on the team’s construction loan," according to Dale Kasler of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Finance experts and city officials said that a default "wouldn’t imperil" the $507M project, but it is a step the Kings and the city "would like to avoid." The Kings "broke ground" at Downtown Plaza last October and "have poured" $216M into the project. City officials said that the team "needs the city’s money soon to keep things on track." But Kings President Chris Granger indicated the team "isn’t worried about hitting any stumbling blocks." Assistant City Manager John Dangberg on Thursday also said that he "isn’t worried about the Kings’ loan with Goldman Sachs going awry." Dangberg said that even if the Sept. 1 deadline is missed, the Kings and Goldman Sachs will “keep the project going" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 8/7).