Oak View Group, one of two groups proposing a half-billion-dollar renovation of KeyArena, has "scrapped plans for an 850-stall parking garage that would have been built with Port of Seattle funding," according to Geoff Baker of the SEATTLE TIMES. OVG yesterday said that it will instead "privately fund space for roughly 400 parking stalls underground at the KeyArena site." OVG CEO Tim Leiweke said that the decision was made after "conversations with an Uptown neighborhood association and other local stakeholders, which expressed a desire to keep the area surrounding KeyArena more 'free-flowing' without a traffic bottleneck the above-ground garage would likely have caused." Leiweke added that the new underground parking spaces "would not impact the group’s plans to increase loading dock space for the arena." He said that the design plan for the building "won’t change at all and that the only noticeable difference will be the space adjacent to it becoming more open." Baker notes public funding has "become a hot-button topic surrounding the two KeyArena renovation groups." Rival bidder Seattle Partners, backed by AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties, has asked the city for $250M in public bond funding as part of its $521M proposal. Seattle Partners said that the plan could generate up to $144M in "surplus funds for the city" (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/30).
DECISION COMING: Baker in a separate piece noted the city will "likely" pick between the two groups in the next two weeks. Last week, AEG brought President & CEO Dan Beckerman to Seattle for "interviews with select reporters and columnists." While Beckerman "mainly discussed SP merits, he also put out a snazzy pamphlet 'comparison' between his side" and OVG. It "touts SP size and financial clout, saying the partnership owns and operates more than 120 venues worldwide compared with zero for OVG." It also "takes aim at 'unclear' sources of funding within OVG and suggests there are contingencies behind it 'not shared with the public.'" For now, OVG has "held off releasing any similar comparative analysis or detailed retorts" (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/29).
