KeyArena Renovations Reach $900 Million Mark..May Be Ready By June 2021

[sawchuk1971]

KeyArena renovation project now to exceed $900 million, with reopening pushed back

Leiweke, after helping lead the media tour through the construction site in an arena rapidly becoming hollowed-out, admitted costs have escalated to “between $900 (million) and $930 million” and that “the schedule has slipped a bit” but the project should be delivered by the summer of 2021.

“The project is definitely costing more than we thought, it’s taking a little bit longer, but it’s with great satisfaction that we’re here today saying ‘We are building something special,”’ Leiweke said after the tour, speaking from inside a new preview center across from the arena site where suites sales have begun taking place. “We’ve solved the Rubik’s Cube that was decades in the making in this community. There is so much good going on. This city deserves a world-class arena and they are about to get it.”

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[BattleBorn]

Thank goodness they weren't going for a 2020 start like we were assured they were planning.

Just goes to show you, take everything an expansion group says with a grain of salt, things always change.

 

[powerstuck]

I know there was a lot of people willing to keep the KeyArena, but holy shit...for that amount of cash you could build two brand spanking new arenas on open ground.

 

[BattleBorn]

I know there was a lot of people willing to keep the KeyArena, but holy ****...for that amount of cash you could build two brand spanking new arenas on open ground.

I think the vast majority of the people that wanted to keep Key Arena were on the Seattle City Council and working for the Port of Seattle.

I said it prior to living here and I'll say it again now, Key Arena makes almost no sense for the site of the new arena. This is the Seattle process forcing a square peg into a round hole when they could have done something so much cooler with the Seattle Center site and located the arena in a much more accessible area already much more connected to transit.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

I know there was a lot of people willing to keep the KeyArena, but holy ****...for that amount of cash you could build two brand spanking new arenas on open ground.

In Seattle? No it wouldn’t. Might be cheaper to build a new one but only by $200M or so.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

In Seattle? No it wouldn’t. Might be cheaper to build a new one but only by $200M or so.

$100 million here, $100 million there, ... pretty soon, you're talking real money.

 

[LadyStanley]

With the WNBA coming in, they really do have a hard deadline in the first half of 2021.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I think the vast majority of the people that wanted to keep Key Arena were on the Seattle City Council and working for the Port of Seattle.

I said it prior to living here and I'll say it again now, Key Arena makes almost no sense for the site of the new arena. This is the Seattle process forcing a square peg into a round hole when they could have done something so much cooler with the Seattle Center site and located the arena in a much more accessible area already much more connected to transit.

Hansen was not actively working on getting a NHL partner he would have had a better case if he had an actual team instead of vague NBA speculation

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

$900 million? is it paved in gold?

s*** for that money, you could've torn down Key Arena and built a brand new arena in its place

 

[viper0220]

$900 million? is it paved in gold?

s*** for that money, you could've torn down Key Arena and built a brand new arena in its place

For that much, they could have built a new arena and a entertainment center around it.

 

[Ernie]

As a resident of a nearby city I think Seattle absolutely did the right thing with keeping the arena downtown. Seattle traffic is horrendous and the main reason for that is that the region has constantly spread outwards instead of densifying and building transit infrastructure. The region has doubled and tripled and quadrupled down on building bigger highways but traffic has steadily gotten worse. This is a step in the right direction and if you put the stadium costs in with the broader transportation planning that is ongoing in the city the extra costs are not that great.

 

[tony d]

Wow, that's a lot of money to spend on an arena. Might have been able to build a new arena and not cost that much.

 

[GuelphStormer]

not specific to this delay, but does anyone know how the neighbourhood residential real estate markets have been affected by the various different arena plans and announcements these past few years?

 

[LadyStanley]

not specific to this delay, but does anyone know how the neighbourhood residential real estate markets have been affected by the various different arena plans and announcements these past few years?

You might want to gather up a few zip codes and head over to Zillow.

 

[GrantLemons]

Wow, that's a lot of money to spend on an arena. Might have been able to build a new arena and not cost that much.

From what I've heard/read, it essentially will be a brand new arena, except they have to maintain the roof because it's a city heritage piece or something along those lines. That's why the cost is so high.

 

[Burke the Legend]

$100 million here, $100 million there, ... pretty soon, you're talking real money.

Seriously... That is a lot of money to waste for the sake of preserving some junky looking roof.

Good to know Seattle has no real problems.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I just don't get what's so special about that damn roof.

 

[MNNumbers]

Seriously... That is a lot of money to waste for the sake of preserving some junky looking roof.

Good to know Seattle has no real problems.

Remember the cost is being paid by OVG. This is a privately financed endeavor. The one thing Seattle City Council did was make it clear they didn't want a different location. They wanted the arena in the same site.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Remember the cost is being paid by OVG. This is a privately financed endeavor. The one thing Seattle City Council did was make it clear they didn't want a different location. They wanted the arena in the same site.

I realize it's not public money but an investor who expects to make a good return on the project but it's still a fairly excessive 9 figure demand for preservation of some very dubious "heritage"

 

[GuelphStormer]

I realize it's not public money but an investor who expects to make a good return on the project but it's still a fairly excessive 9 figure demand for preservation of some very dubious "heritage"

the overall numbers for the franchise itself and arena costs were likely quite tight for OVG two years ago when they won the bid on Key renovations, but now that those renovation costs have gone from $600M to over $930M and puck drop date keeps getting moved further back, I have to wonder if this whole thing isn't going to bust. indeed, hasn't the general contractor already been replaced less than one year in?

 

[Roadrage]

Been to Seattle quite a few times and went to a couple SuperSonics games back in the day just before they got uprooted. No idea why the roof is considered a landmark site. Didn't seem special or stand out to me.

 

[BattleBorn]

Key Arena was a big part of the Worlds Fair. The roofline is one of the more noticeable parts of the whole Seattle Center area.

It’s not great looking, and I think it kind of downplays the grandeur of the arena since it’s so low, but it’s the reason.

Plus, if they ditched the roof they’d have to change all those Seattle Center roadway signs.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

the overall numbers for the franchise itself and arena costs were likely quite tight for OVG two years ago when they won the bid on Key renovations, but now that those renovation costs have gone from $600M to over $930M and puck drop date keeps getting moved further back, I have to wonder if this whole thing isn't going to bust. indeed, hasn't the general contractor already been replaced less than one year in?

Relax, they still arent giving a team to QC.

 

[supsens]

I just don't get what's so special about that damn roof.

Something about a 20% fedral tax credit for heritage buildings. Or something something, not 100% sure how the program works.

 

[TheLegend]

Relax, they still arent giving a team to QC.

QC has nothing to do with Guelph’s comment.

They’re already looking at a 50% cost overrun from the original estimate and not even a third of the way through the project.

If it weren’t for the fact that the guys in OVG are stupidly wealthy and don’t mind shoveling money into a project by the mine hauler load this has to raise a few eyebrows.