Originally published February 14, 2012 at 8:51 PM | Page modified February 15, 2012 at 5:03 PM
Sacramento approves deeper look at plan for new Kings arena
By a unanimous vote, the Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to allow staff to enter into detailed talks with 11 firms seeking to lease downtown parking.
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento's arena effort continues.
By a unanimous vote, the Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to allow staff to enter into detailed talks with 11 firms seeking to lease downtown parking. An agreement with one of those companies is being counted on to provide up to half of a $387 million bill for a new sports arena.
In approving deeper talks with those parking firms, the council showed it supports moving forward on an attempt led by Mayor Kevin Johnson to create a financing plan for an arena by March 1 and avoid losing the NBA's Kings, possibly to Seattle.
That support, however, is far from certain over the long term, given the council discussions looming in the near future.
City staff is in tense negotiations with representatives from the NBA, the Kings, arena operator AEG and the arena development team to round out the facility's financing plan. Those talks are expected to continue for at least another two weeks, as the city works to create a financing "term sheet" for the arena by the end of the month.
The council would then be asked on Feb. 28 to approve that term sheet in a vote that could determine whether the Kings remain in town.
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