With the Sacramento Kings lurking as a potential target, Seattle officials today unveiled a tentative agreement with a financier for a downtown basketball and hockey arena.
While the project is far from a certainty, the tentative agreement, if approved by the City Council and other authorities, would be a major step for financier Chris Hansen's efforts to secure an NBA team for the city.
The agreement would give Hansen the ability "to go shopping" for a team," said Seattle City Council President Sally Clark at a press conference.
She added that no construction will begin until a team has been found. "We certainly hear rumors about a couple of teams being on the market, this year or next," she said.
A spokesman for the Maloofs, owners of the Kings, said they wouldn't comment on the Seattle developments. "Their comment is the same as before - they're not going to weigh in on every rumor," said spokesman Eric Rose.
Hansen's plans to return the NBA to Seattle first surfaced in the spring. He wants to build a $490 million arena, with private interests contributing more than half the funding. The city would borrow upwards of $120 million, with the debt to be repaid by tax revenue from the arena.
City officials said Hansen, a Bay Area hedge fund manager who grew up in Seattle, has agreed to personally guarantee the debt in case tax revenues fall short. His pledge "was a critical deal for us," said City Councilman Mike O'Brien.
Last month a report surfaced that the Maloofs were negotiating to move the team to Virginia Beach, Va. That possibility appeared to fizzle when a proposal for a new arena got a lukewarm reception from the Virginia Beach City Council. Also, an executive with the development group said he'd had no negotiations with the Maloofs.
The future of the Kings in Sacramento has been in question since the Maloofs walked away from a deal in the spring to build a new arena at the downtown railyard. The family has insisted it is committed to Sacramento.
The Seattle Times said Hansen has already spent $51 million buying land immediately south of downtown for the project.
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