The Hurricanes agreed not to relocate before '29 as part of the new lease agreementGETTY IMAGES
The Centennial Authority voted Thursday to "extend the PNC Arena lease" with the Hurricanes "for five years, through July 1, 2029," according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Provisions of the term sheet include:
- An agreement by the Hurricanes "not to relocate the franchise during the current lease."
- The Hurricanes to "receive lease termination rights on the lease as of June 30, 2024."
- A "guarantee by the Hurricanes that their player payroll be above the midpoint of the NHL salary cap each year."
Hurricanes President & GM Don Waddell said that the past few months with the "sudden challenges of the coronavirus pandemic caused some delays and readjustments" to the extension. But with it now completed, Waddell said that there are "multiple pluses for the Hurricanes in the extension, financially and otherwise," including the potential to expand. Waddell: "We're talking with the Centennial Authority about the expansion of this building and property around the building. It gives us an avenue to pursue that and also potentially look at other sites to determine what's the best place for this building to be for the next 25 years." Alexander notes the Authority had "asked architects Ratio and HOK to recommend possible renovation options but will reconsider any moves until it has a better sense of the economy" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 5/29).
FUTURE SIGHT: In Raleigh, Luke DeCock writes the real commodity brokered in Thursday's agreement "wasn't money," but rather "time." DeCock: "This buys five more years of peace. Five more years without [Owner] Tom Dundon being able to threaten to move the team. Five more years to figure out the future of PNC, whether that's upgrading the 20-year-old arena and developing the open space around it -- or looking back toward downtown." The development of the land around the arena "isn't mentioned in the term sheet, but it's the key to this deal" and the "arena's future." In an era when "urban arenas create a pre- and post-game community around them, PNC is almost completely lacking in eating and dining options." It "doesn't take much imagination to imagine what the plaza between PNC and Carter-Finley Stadium would look like as an outdoor mall full of bars and restaurants" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 5/29).
