City of Seattle RFP for KeyArena gets released

There was a swirl of NHL/NBA Seattle news this week when the City of Seattle released the much anticipated RFP for the redevelopment of KeyArena. Inside the RFP, the first listed objective is to:

Chris Daniels has a lengthy article on the topic with a lot of valuable information.

One of the more interesting pieces of the RFP is that the KeyArena structure could qualify

as an historic structure. If the arena is not determined to be a historical landmark, then responders can submit an alternative plan, which would open up the opportunity for a complete teardown. This would give the winning developer an opportunity to maximize the space, which would probably be more compelling to the leagues.

In the Development Agreement and Lease Agreement Terms section of the RFP, it is noted that the responses must include “Confirmation that the proposed concept design(s) are intended to comply with NBA and NHL requirements for potential future tenancy” If I am interpreting this clause correctly, I would expect that both leagues would agree that the submitted RFPs would work for each respective leagues.

Both AEG and the Oak View group, led by former MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke, have confirmed they intend to respond to the RFP and and have said that they can rework the arena to

accommodate the NHL. AEG and Oak View Group have deep relationships with the NHL and should be considered very positive players in the pursuit of bringing the NHL and NBA to Seattle. It should be pointed out that neither of them will be owners of the NHL team in Seattle. (AEG owns the Kings and Oak View Group has financial ties to MSG, owners of the New York Rangers.) The leadership team at these organizations are as connected as it gets and could broker deals for would-be tenants at a remodeled KeyArena site.

This might go nowhere, but it should be perceived as a positive, since the SoDo arena is limping along and may never get the street vacation required for an arena. If SoDo never happens, we need options and Seattle Center is a much better place than Tukwila (which I think is dead). I do my best to be open minded to alternatives and I have the same concerns as a lot of you: NHL compliance, parking, traffic, etc., but I am not an expert in any of those categories. That said, I’ve been to a lot of arenas that are in denser locations than Lower Queen Anne and if an Arena can work in downtown Manhattan (or Brooklyn), then surely someone can make it work at Seattle Center. Having it all pencil out for all parties might be my biggest question.