Details of the contract involving the new Pepsi Center and
the city of Denver show that the city should gain compared with
what it would have earned off McNichols Sports Arena and the
smaller Denver Coliseum. The new $132M Pepsi Center will be
built and paid for by the Nuggets owner Comsat Video Enterprises
and its partner, the Anschutz Corp, while the Nuggets will also
manage McNichols and the Coliseum. Based on the agreement, the
Nuggets guarantee an annual $2M payment to the city, with an
annual 3% inflation adjustment. Under those figures, the city
would "come away" with $95M over the 30-year contract,
significantly more than the $66M the city "projected it would
have earned off McNichols and the Coliseum." Denver City
Councilwoman Cathy Reynolds, who helped on the contract, called
it a "helluva good deal." As part of the deal, Comsat and
Anschutz will pay for all infrastructure improvements, including
traffic signals, turn lanes, and environmental cleanup costs at
the new arena site (Christopher Lopez, DENVER POST, 4/13).
