Seattle Meeting Shows KeyArena Renovation Costs Up By $100M

A Seattle City Council meeting revealed that the renovation of KeyArena "could begin as early as October," and its expected cost is now $700M -- $100M "more than the budget was in December." That original number was agreed upon by the council and Mayor Jenny Durkan when they approved a MOU with Tim Leiweke's Oak View Group for the "massive project, which could attract an NHL team soon and possibly an NBA team down the road." But Seattle Office of the Waterfront & Civic Projects Dir Marshall Foster said that the city "won’t be on the hook for the increase from" $600M. OVG "would be responsible for the entire cost of the renovation of the city-owned arena." Foster said that OVG is "close to naming a contractor for the project and has revised its budget estimate based on talks with that contractor" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/27).