Despite the late start in planning, Downtown Plaza offers some advantages in terms of bringing a project to fruition quickly. Because it's private property, a mall conversion would be spared much of the red tape involved at the city-owned arena site in the railyard. Building at the railyard would require various approvals from Amtrak, Union Pacific and the U.S. government, which has earmarked millions of dollars for a future transportation hub.
One potential hitch to the mall site is parking. Crockett said AECOM's study envisions building the arena partly below ground, eliminating many of the 3,700 parking spots beneath the mall.
City officials, however, say there are still thousands of parking spaces within walking distance that would be freed up for evening events.
