Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that "he won’t entertain any offers on alternative arena sites" to the one proposed by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen in the Sodo District, including a written offer by a New Mexico-based investment group in July to "explore playing for an overhaul of KeyArena to make it NHL- and NBA-compatible," according to a front-page piece by Geoff Baker of the SEATTLE TIMES. Murray on Thursday said that he "plans to honor a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hansen" that expires at the end of '17. He added that the city will "put out a call for bids if it decides to look at alternative sites and figures out ahead of time what it wants from a relationship with private developers." The MOU between the city, King County and Hansen is contingent on Hansen first landing an NBA team, but the NBA has "told Murray and others that there are no immediate plans to expand or relocate teams to Seattle." Murray "expressed doubt in January that an NBA team could be secured here before the MOU expires." Murray: "I have indicated my concern that that may not happen in the time given. But I am not legally going to turn around, nor am I going to start entering into discussions until this agreement sees itself through" (SEATTLE TIMES, 11/13).
