Being a former Sonics fan...
A wealthy San Francisco hedge-fund manager and officials in the Seattle mayor's office have been working behind the scenes for eight months to bring an NBA team back to the city as early as next fall and build a new arena, according to emails and documents that reveal a far more concerted effort than previously known.
A Dec. 13 agenda for a meeting between the parties shows they were talking about details such as a "Review of Basic Deal Structure," "Financing Issues," including "City Debt Capacity," and "Security for Public Financing."
In an initial email laying out his vision, Hansen told city officials an arena could be built with minimal impact on taxpayers.
"Thanks for spending the time today guys," Hansen wrote in a June 16 email to Julie McCoy, chief of staff to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, and Ethan Raup, the mayor's director of policy and operations.
"I really appreciate it and look forward to making this happen in Seattle," wrote Hansen, a multimillionaire who built a fortune in the private investment world. "I genuinely mean that and am confident that with a little effort and creativity we can find a solution that meets our needs and the City's /State's desire to get a team back to Seattle without a large public outlay."
Hansen offered to provide information on "recent municipal arena deals that have been put together and some of the direct and indirect contributions that the city can make that don't require incremental taxes or direct public funding."
Those issues were on the table at the key Dec. 13 meeting, which was attended by McCoy and Raup and set up by Carl Hirsh, a New Jersey arena consultant hired by the city in July.
Seattle sports-arena talks well under way, documents showAlmost since the day Seattle was robbed of its NBA team, a group of well-intentioned, well-heeled, basketball-savvy hoopaholics quietly has been working with both local government and league officials, attempting to get an arena built and a team returned to this city.
Now, four seasons after the Sonics left Seattle and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, the possibility of the NBA returning feels more real than ever.
What if the group that includes former Sonics president Wally Walker can accumulate enough property south of Safeco Field and gain a few concessions from the Seattle City Council (an increase in the hotel-motel tax, a surcharge on tickets) to build an arena that will be predominantly privately funded?
Rapid recent progress has been made. Mayor Mike McGinn has been among those championing the idea.
And once the plans for construction of a new arena near Safeco Field are finalized, I believe the NBA will return to Seattle. The financially strapped Sacramento Kings could become the Seattle Sonics as early as the 2012-2013 season.
This is more than mere wishful thinking. And it could turn out to be more than the NBA.
What if the NHL, which owns the Phoenix Coyotes and desperately wants to sell them and move them and is very interested in Seattle, finds a home for the Coyotes here?
Progress being made to acquire NBA, NHL teamsI don't like the Kings being mentioned(they have a pretty solid history in Sacramento), but it looks like there's finally some movement in Seattle and that the Sonics 2.0 might be a real possibility and maybe even pretty soon.
