The group led by Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov is the
frontrunner to make a bid to keep the Sacramento Kings from moving
to Seattle. People close to the negotiations believe the
group favors the Plaza site.
City Manager John Shirey says it's too early to know how many
spaces might be lost, "If any of them are taken out, it does
reduce the amount of money we can leverage. On the other hand those
are now going to be prime spots for the arena use. So, in a
way it makes those more valuable."
Shirey says the issue is one of many that's "up in the air"
and "driven more by the ownership of the Plaza as well as
what agreement they work out with the team. "
The city is counting on leasing out those spaces and 9,000
others to help fund an arena.
According to research commissioned by the city in 2011,
leasing out its parking operations is worth a minimum of $170
million and as much as $240 million. That was based
on the assumption the arena would be built at the
Railyards site.
That revenue would have been a critical part of the $255.5
million the City pledged to the project. Arena operator AEG
pledged $58.75 million. $390 million needed to build an
arena.
The Kings's majority owners, the Maloof family agreed to
pay $73.25 million during talks at the NBA All Star game a year ago
in Orlando. But the Maloofs then backed out of the
deal.
The City has hired Walker Parking Consultants to review
the value of privatizing parking operations.
