In Seattle, Geoff Baker notes efforts to build a multipurpose sports arena in Tukwila, Wash., "could collapse within two weeks unless an investor steps forward with additional cash." RLB Holdings Founder & Managing Partner Ray Bartoszek, who is spearheading the project, "has until month’s end to extend options to build on key parcels of land reserved for the arena." Bartoszek "paid for short-term extensions on those parcels in October and November but indicated Monday night that he might not make additional payments." He has said that his previous investor "pulled out in July, scuttling his plans to apply for an NHL expansion team." Bartoszek has "yet to find a replacement investor." He said that there is "still potential of one emerging by year’s end, but he could not guarantee if the land options will be extended" (SEATTLE TIMES, 12/16).
COME FLY WITH ME: In Indianapolis, Curt Cavin reports Indianapolis Motor Speedway will host an event Oct. 1-2, and the machines "will be airplanes, not cars" in the Red Bull Air Race. The decision came after IMS President Doug Boles and track Senior Dir of Marketing Jarrod Krisiloff "attended a 2014 race." The two U.S. venues on the circuit "have been Texas Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with crowds of about 35,000." IMS will "take Texas’ place on the schedule next year because of a conflict in the Fort Worth area" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 12/16).
LEVERAGING ASSETS: In Detroit, Shea & Snell note a "complex series of financial moves" by Red Wings and Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch last year culminated in him "tapping his portfolio of assets to financially backstop" the new Red Wings arena. Ilitch "pledged pieces of his family's $5.5 billion empire to build the hockey arena and capitalized on the soaring value" of the Tigers, to refinance Comerica Park's "remaining private construction debt." Public records show that Ilitch, through one of his trusts, "pledged rights to revenue from the team and the stadium to back the debt refinancing -- now a standard practice for such a transaction" (CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS, 12/14 issue).
