It looks like the Toronto suburb of Markham really is dead set on building a $325 million NHL-ready arena, with private developers GTA Sports and Entertainment formally submitting an application for the project yesterday. According to Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, the goal is to have construction underway by as soon as the end of this year, with the arena open by late 2014 — both of which sound pretty ambitious, especially given Ontario winters and what they mean for construction timetables, but maybe Scarpitti is planning on some outside help in that department.
Under the plan approved in April, Markham will borrow the $325 million cost of the arena, then be repaid by a combination of rent from GTA, arena revenues (whether this means actual revenue streams from arena sales or taxes on arena spending never seems to be specified) and revenue from “future development” around the arena, which would effectively be a kind of TIF.
If Markham does go ahead with the arena even without an identified team to play in it, it would potentially be a relocation target for some of the teams currently engaged in arena subsidy battles (Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders), though there’s still the major obstacle that the Toronto Maple Leafs would scream bloody murder if anyone tried to horn in on their media market. Could Markham make a go of an arena without a major sports tenant? Maybe, but the existing evidence isn’t promising.
I think this Arena without a Tenant could possibly do a brisk business kneecapping concert business from Air Canada Centre in the winter. No concert tour coming to Canada bypasses the GTA as the largest population centre in Canada. The ACC as one of a few NBA and NHL arenas would not have the flexiblity in dark nights in the winter. Summer time thou completing against the Rogers Centre, Molson Amphitheatre, ACC and BMO field would probably eat any concerts this arena would possibly have. In the end this will be a white elephant the taxpayer will probably pay for even if they got an NHL team. The Maple Leafs are enough for the GTA as a sport franchise feux paus
PT is correct on the concert competition, especially from the amphitheater, and not even to mention Copps in Hamilton and the Ricoh Colisseum at the CNE. A good number of artists also touch Oshawa and/or London’s 10k OHL rinks while going through the ACC.
Note also that the adjoining highway to the site is the 407 ETR, which costs between $15 and $25 per one way trip from west of Mississauga. 403-401-404 is a nightmare before gametime. The only public transit that stops there from downtown is the GO Train, which takes forever.
For funding, the assumption that the Green Belt induced building spree will continue is pretty bold conjecture. It’s not far out of consideration that, when/if the PCs win government provincially, the Greenbelt concept dies a slow death and the boom shifts somewhere else.
The NHL is the only way the whole things work. Even then, the indemnity you’d have to pay Toronto would eat any profit, I’d think.
The Maple Leafs are the NHL’s golden goose. A second team within a beaver toss (a proud Canadian tradition) of the ACC would be a huge windfall for the NHL. The League will usher it through, perhaps even paying some of the indemnity themselves. The revenue uptick from the Markham Moosies will be MASSIVE.
We’re talking a billion dollar franchise here that doesn’t have to win at all (a proud Toronto tradition). That stadium is the second surest thing in all of pro sport right now, behind the LA NFL thingy.
I’m telling ya Neil — it’s like Markham can’t afford for it not to happen.
Markham – Canada’s very own future Glendale!
Why don’t these private developers GTA Sports and Entertainment and Markham go for a smaller arena and get either the Toronto Marlies of the AHL (Toronto Maple Leafs’ farm team) to play their home games there or go for an OHL franchise (Ontario Hockey League. It’s a major junior hockey league)
Daniel,
Probably because MLSE owns the Marlies, and they won’t want to play in a competitor’s arena.