The homestretch for the Sodo Arena

I will cut to the chase really quickly. The SoDo Arena project has one last hurdle to be shovel ready. Here are two things you can do to help out:

1. Sign the SonicsArena petition.
2. Show up to the Seattle City Council public hearing on the Street Vacation at Occidental on March 15^th.

For a little more narrative…keep reading.

The Seattle Arena project in SoDo that was kicked off around December of 2011 is closing in on the final steps for approval. The only remaining obstacle is a city council vote on a street vacation of a stretch of Occidental just south of Safeco field. The city council vote is being projected on an estimated date of April 24^th with an important public hearing on March 15^th.  The street vacation was part of the 2-year Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that found no major findings that would stand in the way of arena construction. The street vacation has already received recommendations / approvals from the Seattle Design Commission, Downtown Design Review Board, Seattle Department of Transportation, and the Mayor as part of the normal process with the City Council vote. It is seen as the last step before filing for a Master Use Permit to begin construction. Sonics Rising published an great article on what being shovel ready means to the leagues.

The Port of Seattle and the Mariners claim that vacating that block will have a big impact on traffic. I ventured down there to snap some photos over the course of a couple days of all the traffic on that street that will be diverted elsewhere.

 

As you can see, there is not much, if any, traffic that will be impacted, but you should not take a post of phone pictures as proof there is no traffic. You should take the word of a 600+ page Final Environmental Impact study that took close to 2 years that says with some mitigations that there will be minimal economic impact.

NHL impacts

Even though the SoDo arena is being driven by an NBA group led by Chris Hansen, that group has maintained a desire to house an NHL team, as well. Over a year ago, it was reported that Victor Coleman is the potential NHL franchise owner that was looking to partner with Hansen. Coleman has remained quiet on his intentions and dealings with Hansen. Less than 30 days ago he pretty much said no comment to a Business Journal interview on the status of his desire to bring an NHL team to Seattle, but it is clear he has not abandoned the efforts. There has been some speculation that Coleman is waiting for the final vote before going public with his intentions of reaching a deal with Chris Hansen. This might be a little wishful thinking, but we should find out soon.

The bottom line is that the only way Seattle gets a team is if they have a solid arena plan. The Sodo site remains the furthest arena project along and the only one that appears to be moving forward.

 MOU and an NHL first scenario

As many of you are aware, the current Memorandum of Understanding calls for an NBA team before any of the $120M in city bond funding will kick in. What that means in a case of an NHL first scenario is still an open question. It could mean that under the current MOU, an NHL first scenario the arena would need to be entirely privately financed. It could also mean that the MOU would need to be amended to accommodate an NHL first scenario. I am certain the players involved certainly know the steps required to start building and are keeping the matter quiet until we get passed the street vacation vote.