Seatle Arena Update: City Has Received Proposal For NBA, NHL Arena

Various people involved with the City of Seattle and the proposed new NBA and NHL arena in the city spoke at a press conference today to announce officially that the proposal has been received by the city.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn spoke first, kicking things off with the all-important Sonics reference:

Nice to see some Sonics green in the room.

McGinn then confirmed what everyone in the room and in the city of Seattle wanted to hear:

We are pleased today to announce that was have announced a proposal ... that could result in the creation of an NBA and NHL facility in our existing stadium district.

The arena will designed to incorporate the needs of the NHL ... It could mean that the Seattle Supersonics will play in our city once again.

McGinn spoke of hedge fund investor Chris Hansen, who is behind the proposal:

Today we have received a proposal that reflects the work set forward by the city, the county and Chris Hansen.

He has presented us a promising path to bring the NBA back to Seattle, as well as the NHL.

He can tell you the starting lineup of the 1979 championship team without any prompting.

McGinn confirmed the extremely important news about how the arena will be funded. The bulk of the money will come from a $800 million private investment from Hansen and his partners. Other costs up to $200 million will be paid by tax revenue and rent generated by the arena. It does not include any other tax funds from the city of Seattle.

He also noted that the city and county will own the land and the facility. The new teams would play temporarily at KeyArena. A rough timetable for construction of the new building is two years.