It was announced late Thursday night that the Arizona State Land Department has officially posted a 95-acre parcel of land in northeast Phoenix for auction. It is this land that the Arizona Coyotes will hope to use for their next arena, per PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Web link). The auction will take place on June 27th and carry a minimum bid of $68.5 million. Other interested bidders aren’t currently public at this time, though Morgan references recent research that suggests only 22 percent of Arizona land auctions since 2017 have had multiple bidders (26 of 117 auctions).
That means that the Coyotes could end up unopposed as they pursue the site of their new home. That’s great news for the team’s visioning staff, who have mocked up an in-depth rendering of what Arizona’s new rink could look like (YouTube link). Per the rendering, the 95-acre plot would become the home to a 17,000-seat arena, an adjacent practice arena, a training facility, a theater, residential areas, and an entertainment area. The plan carries an estimated cost of more than $3B.
Morgan did an interview with team president and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez, where it was revealed that owner Alex Meruelo does not plan to use taxpayer dollars to fund this project. Gutierrez also shared that the land should transfer ownership within 30 days of the auction, if the Coyotes organization were to win. He added that this site shares all of the same zoning that the land parcel in Tempe carried, giving the team the ability to fully carry over their plans.
It seems things are turning around for the better for the Arizona Coyotes, who now have a date to look towards in their pursuit of a new home.
When this eventually fails like all their previous options, hopefully Bettman finally gets a wake up call and realizes Arizona is not feasible for hockey. Move them elsewhere
Yep. Three billion and Meruelo’s NOT going to try to pick the taxpayers’ pockets? Pull another one.
If Meruelo can pull it off, then he and/or the team would own the arena, bringing long-awaited stability to the franchise.
Developers get the public to foot the infrastructure costs; roads, utilities, schools for the future residents. The municipal governments love this because they also get their cut of the pie via permitting and taxation. No votes needed.
They have to vote on the bonds to pay for the construction. That’s why the franchise has already done multiple presentations. The bond amount, rate, repayment all have to be agreed on. That’s why you see “entertainment or city surcharge” on different bills. The whole process of getting LCA approved in Detroit is fairly recent. You can probably find all the presentations and votes on youtube.
Last thought, see the RCID/Disney dispute. You have to have an oversight district that stands as a separate entity to get approval for infrastructure. An entire school system was built for California employees that didn’t end up moving to Florida. When Reedy Creek was disbanded things got pretty hairy
There are no bonds all money is from the owner
That is a shame. Hopefully someone else buys it
Fear and loathing in Phoenix.
Spending 3 billion centered around the Coyotes seems odd.
Which is why the whole enterprise is smoke & mirrors with zero chance of actually happening like the Yotes front-office is trying to claim. But hey… they made a pretty YouTube video.
Did someone in the Coyotes organization feed @Gabe talking points for this post?
Keep polishing that turd Gary. Looking good.
Just like the the bird Phoenix from Greek mythology rose from the ashes, the soon to be renamed Phoenix Coyotes will rise from their ashes to thrive in north Phoenix. I know all of the haters will fail to accept this fact. With all the young talent the Coyotes have right now, imagine the wad of panties that you all will get twisted in when Phoenix wins the Stanley Cup before Toronto, or any other team in Canada for that matter!
At a certain point, remarks to the longevity of this franchise, my hometown team, depict an odious morality.
A-320, I recommend either you up your dosage or LOWER your dosage. Just sayin’.
I would bet a Canadian team wins a Cup before the Coyotes compete for a Cup in Phoenix/Arizona for that matter. They need to go somewhere else than Arizona
The form for the auction hasn’t been submitted as of yesterday, and the state constitution has up to 240 days to adjust value, potentially pushing a bidding process out until November:
According to the Arizona state constitution, there must be an auction advertisement in print media for a minimum of 10 weeks before the auction. The state would have 240 days from the board of appeals’ approval of that auction on March 14 to hold it.
In other words, the land auction at minimum would not take place until mid-June but would not have to be held until Nov. 9.
According to the state constitution, “the department shall reappraise or update the department’s original appraisal of property to be leased, exchanged or sold if the board of appeals’ approval of the lease or sale occurred more than two hundred forty days before the auction.”
The drafting of an auction notice had not yet been completed as of Thursday, the Arizona State Land Department told Arizona Sports.
Gutierrez just said this is it. They lose and the relocation process will begin.
I just read through the first 2 docs. If they win, the franchise has 36 months per AZ regulations to finish construction. It would almost be better to share the Utah arena and pay rent (which they refused to do in Gila).
Wow – impossible to build what they are wanting in 36 months, plus dealing with local governmental and environmental demands:
17,000-seat arena and 150,000-square-foot practice facility,
concert venue for a live music theater for 3,000 attendees,
400,000 square feet of retail,
multi-purpose watch party plaza equipped with a supersized screen for viewing events,
170,000-square-foot canopy spanning the arena to the theater.
Game over.
@Theodore Glass
Good point. Game over. Plus Meruelo is taking offers:
Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo has spoken to multiple potential buyers — who are in the state and outside of it — to gauge their interest in purchasing the NHL franchise from him, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reports.
That’s one of the links that was shut down after last night. Where Meruelo made a quick statement. I think the details are getting in the way of a quick “headline fix”. Not sure it’s impossible to have the arena portion finished in 36 months, but just like Detroit who seems to have partially abandoned “district Detroit” it won’t be a shock to see other “proposed” elements disappear.
The 3rd doc is 325 pages. They haven’t even surveyed the entire plot. There’s a snippet about overgrowth blocking their view (nobody uses drones for real estate, right?). Run off tests, water retention, all the civil engineering are on the shoulders of the winning bidder. Each participant has to bring a cashier’s check for just over 15m to the auction (a set percentage of the last appraisal) but I think a new appraisal is likely in that 240 day window
Isn’t there some sort of “approval” vote that goes through the board of Governors regarding a change in ownership? Normally not an issue but Bettman was said to have been uninterested in an Utah based group. That may have been more about relocation than selling at the time.
If nothing else, this will have to be the final straw if they lose out on this auction.
I’m not sure that will float. Even if they win, the entire plot has to connected to city services and up to code on runoff and erosion control. Then you build the stadium. That’s if the 240 day window isn’t enacted to re appraise the land and the bid isn’t challenged over the following 30 days. You’re still looking at probably 2 seasons without that building. The quick release of info didn’t seem to take any of the governance/state constitution into account
So basically, it’s about 10/90 odds that this attempt fails?
I think this is something to pacify the scenario. Basically buys 2 months, almost 3, to figure this out. I don’t want a team to fail, I just don’t understand how an owner let it get this far. There have to be some standards or safeguards in place somewhere to keep this from ever happening again.
Bettman & Co. certainly bear responsibilty for allowing this to carry on this long as well.
This mess has been going on since 2007+. Good point that they only have to get the arena open for the team to move in, and the amusement stuff can be built in the third year. For the ownership to get an architectural plan in place and then put out bids to construction firms is cutting matters close.
Having just sat in the Mullett Arena, I can say that something has to happen, even if it’s a move to SLC.