The Warriors "for the first time Thursday sketched out the team’s broad vision" for a $1B arena and office complex in the Mission Bay neighborhood, giving residents "their first rough outline of what would be a transformative project for the still-evolving area," according to Eric Young of the S.F. BUSINESS TIMES. Detailed drawings "won't come until later this fall," but the initial design revealed at Thursday's meeting with the Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee "would incorporate an oblong arena placed off-center on the 12-acre site." The designers "placed office and lab space totaling about 500,000 square feet at both the northwest and southwest corners of the site." The main plaza area by the arena "would be comparable in size" to S.F.'s Union Square. Warriors officials said that building heights "would conform to existing limits at the site." The arena "at its highest point would be 135 feet high; the highest points of the office towers would be 160 feet and the retail sites would vary from 25 to 40 feet high" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/14). In S.F., Jonah Lamb notes the new arena "will seat 18,000 people, the same size as the former site" considered by the team along The Embarcadero. Parking will "be provided below ground in a 700-car lot with two access points on the north and south ends of the site." All arena-related functions "will be accessible through the two entrances to the underground garage." The arena and complex are "slated to be ready" for the '18-19 NBA season (S.F. EXAMINER, 8/15).
