Seattle Partners, a partnership between AEG and Hudson Pacific, announced in a formal letter to the City of Seattle that they would be pulling out of the KeyArena remodel process. On the surface, it appeared to be a surprise, but to those of us that have been following the story for a while know that AEG was on the cusp of losing the bid anyway. They could have bowed out gracefully, but they decided to take a scorched earth approach to announcing their exit.
The mayor responded to the letter with a statement of his own:
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray
“It is unfortunate Seattle Partners chose to pull their proposal. As recently as May 19th, Seattle Partners stated in a mass email: ‘We applaud the City for executing a thoughtful public process. Engaging with teams from the City and the public has strengthened our proposal and crystallized our approach.’ We hope to continue our current relationship with AEG and look forward to addressing our path forward on KeyArena, as well as our commitment to engage the community, in the coming days.”
And then there was one…at KeyArena
That leaves OVG as the remaining bidder on the KeyArena remodel. It has been rumored that we were going to hear an announcement as early as this week. John Shannon from Sportsnet tweeted that OVG would be in town on Monday (the 5th).
Oakview group led by former AEG and MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke expect to be named "preferred bidder" this week in Seattle.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) June 5, 2017
Sodo and KeyArena
Assuming OVG can strike a deal with the City, this will now set the stage for a SoDo/KeyArena showdown that should really be interesting. There are so many different
dynamics at play here; it is impossible to predict. Ultimately, I believe it will come down to the following questions:
Who has the money to build the arena? As part of the KeyArena RFP process, OVG needed to demonstrate the financial means to deliver on the project. Meanwhile, the Hansen group has not revealed how they are financially structured since Ballmer left the group.
Which arena group has support of the leagues? There has been a lot of speculation that Hansen does not have the support of the NBA, but that has never been confirmed by the NBA. Time heals all wounds, so if this really is an issue, it could be fixed. OVG’s CEO, Tim Leiweke has deep ties to both the NBA and NHL, so his relationships seem solid. That said, I expect the City of Seattle to be in contact with both leagues to confirm either or both potential arena partners have the support from both leagues.
Who has a potential NHL ownership group? Both groups have acknowledged that they are talking to potential NHL ownership groups and for all we know, they could be talking to the same groups. Maybe a bigger question is how much this needs to be solidified to decide SoDo vs. KeyArena.
Has Hansen done enough to alter the vote on a street vacation? Since the street vacation vote was denied by the city council last year, Hansen has announced his intent to pull the need for public financing. In my eyes, that is a moot point since the public financing was always tied to procuring an NBA franchise, which was not going to happen before the MOU expires in December.
How this all plays out is anyone’s guess, but it certainly feels like we are closer to getting a viable arena plan that can support an NBA and NHL team. Take that last sentence with a grain of salt, since I’ve said that before.
Leave a Reply