Bucks picking from three design teams for arena project

The Milwaukee Bucks have an interesting choice to make among the three design teams competing for their new arena project.

The three entities bidding for the job are Populous teamed with HNTB, Milwaukee design firm Eppstein Uhen and builder Mortenson; AECOM and Hunt Construction, the company AECOM bought last summer; and 360 Architecture alone without a general contractor.

All three teams interviewed for the job a few days before Christmas, industry sources said.

Populous and HNTB, two Kansas City-based architects, typically compete against each other for business, but they’re joining forces in Milwaukee, according to industry sources.

Populous has designed seven NBA facilities in the past 30 years — including BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Bucks’ home since 1988 — but HNTB’s expertise is tied mostly to college football stadium renovations. The firm as a whole has not been involved in designing a big league arena since Oracle Arena opened in Oakland in 1966.

It may seem like a curious pairing until you consider Bob Cook, a former HNTB vice president of government relations in Madison, Wis., joined the Bucks last summer as their new vice president of business affairs.

If there is a connection there, project officials aren’t talking about it. Bucks President Peter Feigin, in an email last week, would not confirm the three design teams but said the Bucks have viewed initial drawings and expect to select an architect over the next 30 days.

Populous Senior Principal Brad Clark said in a statement, “We are excited about the possibility of helping to reshape downtown Milwaukee and the greater region. Beyond that, we’re not in a position to comment or speculate on any timing or next steps.”

AECOM and 360, soon to be part of HOK, have both designed several big league arenas over the past several years, and both firms have strong connections on their own in Wisconsin.

AECOM, formerly Ellerbe Becket, has six NBA arenas to its credit, plus renovations to Lambeau Field. One of its principals, Jon Niemuth, grew up in Oshkosh, Wis., and he earned two degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Separately, 360 founding partner George Heinlein designed Kohl Center, the University of Wisconsin’s basketball and hockey arena.

As of last week, the Bucks had yet to determine a site and complete financing for their new arena, expected to cost between $400 million and $500 million.

> TEAM EFFORT: Staples Center’s new team store has seen increases in revenue across the board after its first three weeks of operation.

Team LA Store, relocated to a vacant space on the main concourse and expanded to 6,900 square feet, has seen sales increase by 27 percent over last year, arena President Lee Zeidman said. The old store measured 4,400 square feet.

A move into a bigger space has meant more sales at Staples Center’s team store. Photo: COURTESY OF TEAM LA

In addition, sales of customized merchandise have jumped by 400 percent since AEG moved that piece of the operation inside the bigger space.

Art of the Game, a sports memorabilia retail space, also has been folded into Team LA Store, and it’s averaging $3,500 a night in sales, far surpassing the number produced at a location separate from the old pro shop.

Team LA Store’s new setup for converting apparel racks to match the team playing that night at Staples Center has reduced the process by an average of 15 minutes, which saves on labor costs, Zeidman said.

And in eco-friendly California, the number of consumers signing up at the team store to receive “green receipts” by email has increased by 350 percent, he said.

The new team store opened Dec. 16 in a space previously occupied by the old Fox Skybox restaurant.

Don Muret can be reached at dmuret@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @breakground.