Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that the future of KeyArena is a "major element that must be solved" and he will "spend his final months in power working toward that goal," according to Geoff Baker of the SEATTLE TIMES. Murray said that regardless of whether the city goes with Oak View Group, Seattle Partners (backed by AEG) or a Sodo District arena project pitched by entrepreneur Chris Hansen, the "future of KeyArena needs to be settled ahead of that choice." Murray: "We’ve gone on for over a decade on what we’re going to do with KeyArena. And ... the city has quite a liability up here. We have to make a decision one way or the other." Murray "hopes to make a recommendation on a KeyArena group to the city council 'earlier' than an initial late-June/early-July timeframe initially envisioned." Hansen's group on Thursday put out a statement "alleging the half-billion-dollar proposals by OVG and SP seek more than" $200M apiece in public subsidies. Murray countered that Hansen's group is also seeking "big chunks of public money" in a waiver of admissions taxes and a "re-definition of the B&O (beverage and occupation) tax." Murray said that all three proposals are "significantly smaller" in terms of public funding than Hansen's "initial Sodo offer" from '12, as well as previous stadium projects for the Mariners and Seahawks. OVG Dir of Special Projects Lance Lopes "denied his group's public-funding requests" total more than $200M (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/12).
NO ROOM FOR YOU: Wallace Properties CEO Bob Wallace in a special to the PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL writes it is apparent that either the OVG or SP proposal "makes a lot more sense than cramming a new arena into Sodo." The "biggest problem with the Sodo site is there simply isn't infrastructure to handle multiple events." When Safeco Field was built near the Kingdome, and subsequently when CenturyLink was built, the city "required an agreement between the facilities that precluded overlapping events." CenturyLink "only has a handful of events each year, but with the Sounders playing there more often the gridlock affects the whole region." A basketball venue next door would be "much more difficult." To "add insult to injury, it would compound competitive challenges for the Port of Seattle by exacerbating truck, rail and dock congestion." A new Sodo arena would "jeopardize the viability of all three facilities, kill maritime jobs, invite a lawsuit for the port and further gentrify what little industrial land remains in Seattle" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/12).
