Arizona Coyotes announce plans for new arena in Tempe for 2019-20 season

The Arizona Coyotes are primed to end their long saga with the city of Glendale, Ariz. very soon.

On Monday, the Coyotes announced plans for a new 16,000-seat arena in Tempe, Ariz. that will be ready by the start of the 2019-20 NHL season.

The new facility is located in the East Valley area, which is closer to the Phoenix metro area than Glendale.

Tempe is also home to Arizona State University, which will also benefit from the project. The Coyotes are partnering with Catellus Development, ASU’s master developer, to complete plans for the new project. The location means curtains for ASU’s golf course.

The Coyotes revealed the second arena is part of the franchise’s plan to grow youth hockey in the desert:

The second arena will be utilized by Sun Devils Athletics, Coyotes practices, youth hockey practices and games and community events. These two new additional sheets of ice will continue to help grow the sport at the grass-roots level. In the future, a new hotel and other related amenities will be finalized as part of the second phase of the project.

The new arena will end a nearly decade-long saga between Glendale and the Coyotes. Glendale entered an agreement to build an arena for Arizona in 2001, but the relationship began to sour when the Coyotes went bankrupt in 2009. The city struck a $15 million-per-year revenue sharing deal to keep the team in 2013, but voted to terminate its agreement with the team in 2015.

The Coyotes began seeking new pastures at that point, and reportedly settled on the East Valley area earlier this year.

The team and city have until June 30, 2017 to finalize the budget and plans.