Could Cal Expo assume some risk?

[Trueblood]

This article in the Sac Bee suggests that if Cal Expo can't find a developer, they could act as the master developer themselves.

http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/2281139.html

 

[kennadog]

I think that's extermely unlikley. The Cal Expo does not have the staff or experience to act as a developer on this project. If its it going to work, they need to have a very experienced, big project developer. Especially one that has some familiarity with arena or stadium developement. Having the right developer is one of the most crucial things in the success or failure of almost any developer.

Unfortunately, Stern let the Bee know that moving the Kings may not be the Maloofs choice. He said the situation can't continue as is for very long or the Board of Commissioners will make the Kings move. He's still trying to be optomistic about the cahnces for a new arena, but he's fianlly made it clear that the team may be forced to move, even if its against the wishes of the ownership.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/2009/10/stern.html

 

[Trueblood]

I found it interesting that they mentioned both the Spanos group and the group that's building the LA football stadium. Spanos owns the Chargers and his team has long been rumored to move to this stadium if it comes to fruition. Problem is, the group building the stadium would want to be part owners of the team and Spanos doesn't know if he wants to sell or not.

A perfect scenario for everybody would be if Spanos sold the team for roughly $700 million, the average value of an NFL team nowadays. Knowing that an LA team makes the value go up, he could get more. With the money Spanos gets from the sale, he could then turn around and have a nice chunk to lay down for the arena.

Problem there is that if they spend all that on an arena, they are going to want control and that won't happen with the Maloofs negotiating with them. I guess we would have to hold out hope that the Maloofs would be willing to sell to Spanos.

 

[kennadog]

Problem there is that if they spend all that on an arena, they are going to want control and that won't happen with the Maloofs negotiating with them. I guess we would have to hold out hope that the Maloofs would be willing to sell to Spanos.

Never happen. The Maloofs have had calls from interested cities, already. They'll likely have no problem finding a home for the Kings, if they are forced to move.

 

[Trueblood]

Never happen. The Maloofs have had calls from interested cities, already. They'll likely have no problem finding a home for the Kings, if they are forced to move.

No doubt about it, they will have no problem moving. I'm just thinking out loud and wondering if they would be willing to sell if someone made them a big time offer to buy the team and keep it in Sacramento. Highly doubtful but you never know.

In a worst case scenario, I wonder if the city could lure the A's if the Kings indeed move. The reason that I bring it up is because Lew Wolfe, the A's owner, has said that he will finance a new stadium on his own. That takes away the tax payer headache. The problem is that I think he is eyeing San Jose due to all the corporate money he can recoup off his investment. That money doesn't exist in Sacramento or so I've read.

 

[Bricklayer]

In a worst case scenario, I wonder if the city could lure the A's if the Kings indeed move. The reason that I bring it up is because Lew Wolfe, the A's owner, has said that he will finance a new stadium on his own. That takes away the tax payer headache. The problem is that I think he is eyeing San Jose due to all the corporate money he can recoup off his investment. That money doesn't exist in Sacramento or so I've read.

With basketball and baseball season largely not overlapping, I would thnk there would be a better chance of luring the A's if the Kings DIDN'T move. I'm not sure the turning on the beloved civic franchise, quitting showing up to games, and helping them pack as they leave town is one of those great positive markers that other team owners look for in a new location.

 

[Trueblood]

With basketball and baseball season largely not overlapping, I would thnk there would be a better chance of luring the A's if the Kings DIDN'T move. I'm not sure the turning on the beloved civic franchise, quitting showing up to games, and helping them pack as they leave town is one of those great positive markers that other team owners look for in a new location.

Good point. What's even sadder is that Raley Field can be renovated to MLB standards which would be a lot cheaper than building from scratch. Even though it's in W. Sac, it's closer to downtown than Arco is.

Back to the Kings, I read a comment on the discussion section of the article I linked and someone said that the railyards already have a developer in place. Is this so? Or is that coming from someone who is misinformed?

 

[kennadog]

Good point. What's even sadder is that Raley Field can be renovated to MLB standards which would be a lot cheaper than building from scratch. Even though it's in W. Sac, it's closer to downtown than Arco is.

Back to the Kings, I read a comment on the discussion section of the article I linked and someone said that the railyards already have a developer in place. Is this so? Or is that coming from someone who is misinformed?

They've had a developer in place for quite a while. The main stumbling block is the city can't seem to get its butt in gear. They need to get promised infrastructure money to the developer and eright now they are haggling over the price the city will pay Thomas for the old RR station. Basically over the many-year life of the project the city committed to supplying $1 billion in subsidies.

I know they applied for and got quite a bit of State money, but they sure are moving slowly. They've had that money for a year.

 

[Trueblood]

They've had a developer in place for quite a while. The main stumbling block is the city can't seem to get its butt in gear. They need to get promised infrastructure money to the developer and eright now they are haggling over the price the city will pay Thomas for the old RR station. Basically over the many-year life of the project the city committed to supplying $1 billion in subsidies.

I know they applied for and got quite a bit of State money, but they sure are moving slowly. They've had that money for a year.

Thanks for the info. I'm starting to think that Cal Expo needs to be tossed to the side and the railyards and Natomas need to be the priority. They need to move quickly.

 

[kennadog]

Thanks for the info. I'm starting to think that Cal Expo needs to be tossed to the side and the railyards and Natomas need to be the priority. They need to move quickly.

Unless the city and/or county is willing to come up with some money same as Cal Expo is (a State governement entity) it's not likely to be at either the railyards or Natomas. If the arena is built at Cal Expo, that also means the Maloofs can raze Arco, sell the Natomas site and have money to pay off the balance of the city loan provided to prior ownership and have some mony to apply toward the new arena at Cal Expo.

After years of trying to get the city or county to do something, there isn't much sense that the city/county can manage to pull off anything.

If the Cal Expo site fails, then city-county money and willingness is the last resort and is not very likely to happen, if a 10-year history has any predictive value.

 

[Trueblood]

Unless the city and/or county is willing to come up with some money same as Cal Expo is (a State governement entity) it's not likely to be at either the railyards or Natomas. If the arena is built at Cal Expo, that also means the Maloofs can raze Arco, sell the Natomas site and have money to pay off the balance of the city loan provided to prior ownership and have some mony to apply toward the new arena at Cal Expo.

After years of trying to get the city or county to do something, there isn't much sense that the city/county can manage to pull off anything.

If the Cal Expo site fails, then city-county money and willingness is the last resort and is not very likely to happen, if a 10-year history has any predictive value.

But shouldn't having KJ in place, a mayor who is making this a priority, give us more hope than we had with the previous administration? It just sounds to me like he's pessimistic about Cal Expo and the fact that he's brought up the railyards and Natomas as options make me think that he's going to try and pull some strings that Fargo and her predecessors didn't. Or so I hope.

 

[kennadog]

But shouldn't having KJ in place, a mayor who is making this a priority, give us more hope than we had with the previous administration? It just sounds to me like he's pessimistic about Cal Expo and the fact that he's brought up the railyards and Natomas as options make me think that he's going to try and pull some strings that Fargo and her predecessors didn't. Or so I hope.

Just realize that Sacramento has a "weak-mayor" system of governance. That's why KJ wants to change to a "strong-mayor" system. The issue is how much power to give to a mayor.

I advocate a "strong-mayor" system for Sacramento. Our current system is a big part of the inability of the city council to get much of anything done, ever. Actually Sacramento is one of the largest cities in the country to still have a "weak-mayor" system.

Right now, Johnson actually has no more power than any other city council member. None. He gets one vote, same as everyone else and the city is really run more by the city manager, who is hired by the council.

And, although he talks up a new arena getting done, you may have noticed that he has not talked at all about a single idea about how to finance the project, which is the real issue. Now, I am moderatley impressed with his ability to reach out to the business community, but that may or may not get businesses on board with a way to finance an arena.