SEATTLE, Wash. -- Is the "Seattle Process" near the end for the long delayed, long discussed, Seattle Arena proposal?
After nearly three years, countless meetings and design reviews, the Seattle Arena proposal is now back in the hands of the Seattle City Council.
That's after the Seattle Design Commission unanimously approved the public benefit of the project Thursday.
It came after another three-hour meeting on the public benefit of the proposed sports complex in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood.
It means the final two advisory votes have now been completed and turns the project back over to the Seattle Department of Transportation and the council to make a recommendation on the street vacation needed to build the arena.
Chris Hansen's architects have asked for the city to eliminate a nearly two-block stretch of Occidental Avenue to build the complex south of Safeco Field.
Hansen's team has promised to build an access road to the east of the project to allow for transit to the Safeco Field garage and build a 14-foot-wide pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks to the south, along Holgate Street. The design also would eliminate the once proposed "drumlins" on the north side of the arena in favor of a "living machine," which would help recycle wastewater underneath a plaza on the north side of the arena. Hansen's team says the arena would also cede 2,400 square feet of the site to the city to properly align Massachusetts Avenue.
SDOT's Street Vacation Director Beverly Barnett, perhaps, signaled her pleasure with the changes made by Hansen's team, saying it "would be appropriate as a public benefit" and "really strengthened from what we've seen before."
Hansen's architect, Mark Brands, told the commission Thursday that, with the changes, the cost of the arena has now gone up to $550 million and additional money will be spent to pay for the pedestrian bridge. He also said the group has slotted 1.5 percent of the budget to public artwork.
The City of Seattle, King County, and Hansen agreed to the framework of the arena deal back in 2012, which calls for up to $200 million in public financing if Hansen's group acquires an NBA and NHL franchise. The debt would be repaid by Hansen's group. His investors would also pay for the rest of the project cost. That agreement, called a Memorandum of Understanding, called for the design and environmental reviews and expires in 2017.
It's unclear, however, when the council may take up the issue. There is no sense of urgency from Hansen's camp, the NBA, or NHL to fill the building. Sources at Seattle City Hall have indicated that council members are reluctant to take up the issue prior to Election Day. All nine Council positions are up for grabs in the November election because of voter redistricting. That could mean the final vote, needed before issuance of a Master Use Permit, may not happen until November or December. Hansen's team must also formalize its plans for a "living machine" and art program before the MUP is issued.
The city council will also likely weigh previous advisory votes on the issue. The Downtown Design Review Board unanimously approved the design this week and the Seattle Design Commission unanimously approved the Urban Merit of the project back in May in addition to the unanimous vote on the public benefit Thursday. The Council approved the MOU by a vote of 7-2 back in 2012.
The Port of Seattle, Seattle Mariners, and International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union will also likely plot their next step and a legal challenge is likely. Previous legal challenges to the project have been tossed by the courts.
The Port, which has been an outspoken opponent of the project, has previously claimed it would back a study on an alternative site for an arena in Tukwila. The Mariners, who have voiced their opposition in the three year process, will have to weigh whether to join any sort of organized legal action. Sources in the Mariners front office have quietly acknowledged that the franchise could have handled their messaging a bit differently and that the franchise remains concerned about access to Safeco Field on game days and non-event days.
On Thursday, Geraldine Poor, from the Port of Seattle, acknowledged Hansen's architects made a "compelling presentation," but that the port still remains concerned about how the arena would impact the street network "24 hours a day." Dave Gering, Executive Director of the Manufacturing Industrial Council, also said there were "really neat improvements," but vowed to "keep pointing out our concerns".
Susan Ranf, Transportation Director for the Mariners, said she had "extreme concern" about the project. She said 14,000 fans at a packed Mariners game move down 1st Avenue S. and that the arena would narrow the sidewalk space and pedestrian capacity on 1st Avenue. Brands responded by saying the sidewalks are currently 12-feet wide and the project would actually widen the sidewalks on 1st Avenue S.
Kris Brannon, a Tacoma resident who calls himself the "Sonics Guy," was the lone fan to address the commission and said that all fans "appreciate those hard working quality jobs" at the port and that he only wished the Mariners would adjust their "myopic view that people only like one sport."
Sources close to the competing Tukwila arena project have suggested they are continuing to move full steam ahead with planning for a privately financed arena near Southcenter Mall and the City of Tukwila has indicated the environmental review continues. Investment Banker Ray Bartoszek, according to sources close to the project, is still on track to close on the property for the site later this year.
There is still a question of which team would fill either arena. The NHL has maintained it is moving forward, without Seattle, in its expansion process. No Seattle group stepped forward to file an expansion application prior to a deadline this summer.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has maintained the league is not discussing expansion at this time. However, NBA Players Association Director Michele Roberts told La Gazzetta dello Sport she, and Silver, are attempting to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement by the end of this season. It is set to expire in 2017 and has been seen, by many observers, as a roadblock to any potential expansion discussion.
