SEATTLE (AP) The quest to bring the NBA back to Seattle took a significant turn Tuesday with investor Chris Hansen and his investment group offering to pay for a proposed arena with private funds.
In a letter to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, the City Council and King County Executive Dow Constantine, Hansen’s group is now offering to rip up a memorandum of understanding from 2012 that called for up to $200 million in public investment in the arena.
Instead, Hansen’s group will pay for the project privately. Additionally, the group is offering to contribute to a transportation project near the proposed arena that would help deal with freight traffic at the Port of Seattle, a sticking point in past efforts.
”We have concluded that a changed economic climate makes possible the private financing of the arena,” the letter reads. ”For that reason, and to address concerns expressed by city council members, we would consider revising the street vacation petition to eliminate public financing of the arena. In such a case the MOU would be terminated and the rights and obligations of the parties under the MOU would end.”
The decision comes 5 + months after the city of Seattle turned down Hansen’s request to block off a street needed for construction of the arena, which could have led to the issuance of a master use permit, meaning construction of the arena could have started once an NBA team had been acquired.
The termination of the MOU provides Hansen’s group with flexibility – should the city agree to its requests, which still include blocking off the street. Hansen already owns the land for the arena and could proceed with construction even without a team. It also opens up the NHL as an immediate possibility as the MOU was tied to the acquisition of an NBA team as a condition of construction.
As of now, Hansen’s group – which includes members of the Nordstrom family and former Seattle SuperSonics president and minority owner Wally Walker – has not taken on additional investors. The original proposal in 2012 said the total project would cost $490 million.
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