The Virginia Beach City Council "could vote as early as Dec. 9 on a tentative term agreement" with developer United States Management to build a new arena there, and council members "could make a final decision on the arena" in Q1 '15, according to Margaret Matray of the Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT. Terms currently "are an outline of a nonbinding agreement," which stipulates that the 500,000-square-foot arena would cost $200M and "be privately financed by USM." The city under the terms would pay about $53M for "infrastructure improvements, including parking and a public plaza." The City Council also "will discuss paying" for an additional $26.3M in optional infrastructure improvements. The city "would make incentive payments to USM to help pay for the arena's debt service," including 1% of the city's 8% hotel tax. The city "will lease 5 acres of land to USM for $1 a year for 40 years." After those four decades, the city "would own the arena." The arena "would have 16,500 seats and could expand to 18,000 if an NBA or NHL team expressed interest in relocating." Officials said that the city "is not in discussions with any professional sports teams." If the arena is approved, construction "could begin next fall, and the facility could open" in fall '17 (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 11/21).
