April 24, 2007

Niners, Vikes pitch almost-$1B stadiums

Catching up on stadium news from the last few days:

• The San Francisco 49ers owners are set to announce today their financing plan for a now-$950 million stadium in Santa Clara, though "plan" might be a bit of a misnomer: According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Matier and Ross, the team will ask for $180 million in city subsidies, without specifying how those public funds will be raised. Three possible options: giving the Niners development rights to additional land, a TIF, or tapping the city's utility fund - with Matier and Ross reporting that nobody with the 49ers believes the first two "would generate anywhere near the $180 million needed to swing the deal."
• Billion-dollar stadiums seem to be all the rage: The latest plans for a Minnesota Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis come in at $954 million, though unlike the 49ers', this one would have a retractable roof. (Some renderings here.) The state-run Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which issued the new proposal, didn't bother to include a financing plan at all; MSFC director Bill Lester, bidding for the coveted Field of Schemes Understatement of the Year Award, told the Downtown Journal, "We understand that's a huge gap."
• The Sacramento Kings owners are reportedly set to make another run at a new arena, with Sacramento county supervisor Roger Dickinson telling a local TV station: "I don't think anyone right now is contemplating any direct public funding being part of the equation." Operative word: direct.
• New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner has reportedly begun demolition of more buildings to clear the way for his planned umpteen-billion-dollar Atlantic Yards arena-and-development project in Brooklyn, though I haven't gotten down there yet to see for myself. Opponents of the plan, including local city council representative Letitia James, rallied against the demolitions yesterday morning, noting that several lawsuits are still pending challenging the project's legality.

Finally, I did manage to check out the progress of the new New York Mets stadium this weekend. (Photo here.) If anyone can figure out what those giant concrete towers are for - stairwells? elevator shafts? - please drop me a line.

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