Proposed new Seattle arena sounds like a pretty good plan

SEATTLE -- At a raucous gathering that was part press conference and part Sonics fan rally, King County Executive Dow Constantine used a basketball metaphor to express how far there still is to go before the NBA or NFL will be in Seattle.

"This is not Game Seven," Constantine said as he and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn outlined a proposal to build a new arena in Seattle's SoDo district. "This is the tipoff of the first game of the preseason. This is a set of principles. This is a start."

But you know what? It's a pretty darn good start.

And after nearly four years after NBA commissioner David Stern facilitated the hijacking of the Sonics, the tipoff of a preseason game is reason enough for some genuine excitement.

So go ahead basketball and hockey fans, get caught up in the excitement that came with Thursday's press conference at Seattle City Hall. February 16th won't be remembered as the day the NBA and NHL came to Seattle, but it will very likely go down as a significant early step in the process that helped make this region's sporting landscape whole once again.

Based on the proposal, Christopher Hansen, a San Francisco based hedge-fund manager, will raise $290 million in private investment for a new arena, while the city and county would commit a maximum of $200 million, all of which will be repaid through rent and tax revenue generated directly by the project.

"The project does not rely on new taxes; it would be self-funded," Constantine said. "Existing city and county services would not be adversely impacted. Private investors would bare the project risk, private investors would be responsible for any cost overruns."

In other words, this is one hell of a deal Hansen is offering. If this all comes to fruition, Seattle's new arena will be funded by more private money than every NBA arena but New York's Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Staples Center. Seattle would end up with a publicly-owned arena that cost taxpayers nothing.

Bringing two new sports franchises to Seattle is not just good for sports fans, but with a deal like this, it's good for the economy of the entire region. As Constantine and McGinn both cautioned, there is a long ways to go before this proposal turns into an actual arena. First, an arena advisory panel appointed by McGinn and Constantine has to review the proposal and make sure every thing adds up, then Hansen would have to figure out how to procure himself an NBA team and find a partner to help bring an NHL team to Seattle as well.

But before the NBA would consider coming back, and before the NHL would consider moving a team to Seattle, this day had to happen. People had to see that a local government that wouldn't do what it took to keep its last team is on board with a plan to build a new arena. Just as importantly, this proposal lets the public know that very real progress is being made.

So even if nothing is close to final, it's OK to get fired up about Thursday's news. Yes, there is much to be done, but that shouldn't temper the excitement on what will someday go down as a very important day in the sports history of the Puget Sound region.

"It's important, because the longer you wait, the more costly it becomes," said Lenny Wilkens, the coach of Seattle's 1979 NBA championship team and a member of the advisory panel. "So to get it started now, to get people thinking about it, to put a committee together to work on it is great."

As McGinn put it, all the planets have to align for this to go from proposal to actual arena with NBA and NHL tenants, but this deal Hansen is offering will go a long, long ways towards helping those planets align.

"This is an exciting proposal," McGinn said. "And it could mean big things for our community."

No need to break out the "Welcome back Sonics" banner quite yet, but enjoy this. It was a very big step in the right direction.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.