The Warriors yesterday announced that they have "acquired the 12-acre site of their future arena in San Francisco from Salesforce.com," according to Diamond Leung of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The price of the private land reportedly "was about" $150M. The Warriors last April "had purchased an option on the property in the Mission Bay neighborhood." The closing came days after the Warriors along with UCSF and S.F. Mayor Ed Lee, announced that the school "would officially endorse the arena project after reaching preliminary agreements to address traffic concerns for the neighboring hospital" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 10/13). CSNBAYAREA.com's Monte Poole noted the project is "gaining momentum even as an opposing group, the Mission Bay Alliance, continues to resist, noting increased traffic in the immediate vicinity of a medical facility." The Mission Bay site "has not yet received Environmental Impact Report certification." Warriors President & COO Rick Welts said that once it does, "only potential litigation could slow the construction phase." Welts: "We’re closer today than we have been at anytime since we announced the Warriors were coming back to San Francisco. We still have to go through final certification of our EIR, which we’re expecting is going to happen by the end of this calendar year. That’s going to enable us to be in the ground in 2016.” Poole noted the team, which initially hoped to be in S.F by '17, "has been firm about a Mission Bay arena opening" before the '18-19 NBA season (CSNBAYAREA.com, 10/12). SI’s Phil Taylor said of the different approach the Warriors are taking to get their arena built, “They learned that maybe a velvet fist is better than a big hammer, and it does look like the ducks are just about in a row. ... It really seems like they’ve figured out how to work this and with private financing there’s no reason why this shouldn’t go through” (“Sports Talk Live,” CSN Bay Area, 10/12).
