I was at US Bank Arena this past weekend and while it may not be as outdated as some other 70's era arenas (see Brendan Byrne/ Continental in NJ), it really is leaps and bounds behind the modern arenas that are being built.  As March madness is upon us, I can't help but think of al;l the vents Cincy loses on b/c of the arena, often to many cities like Columbus, Cleveland, Indy and Louisville.  We are talking about millions of $$.  Not too mention the location of the arena is simply horrid given the baseball stadium prximity; the access is horrible and it looks too cramped.

 

So what is the process on a new city arena? Obviously no NBA/NHL hurts but perhaps we should look at Kansas City as a model with the Sprint Center.  As an idea for location, why not consider the square block b/w 4th and 5th Plum and Elm (currently a lot accross from the convention Center).  Pehaps it can be built as an extension of the Convention space with a connection between the two locations (either underground or a skywalk) similar to how other cities have connected arena/stadium space to their convention centers.  Such location would include tearing down a garage and some businesses i.e. hustler would have to relocate but I think it would be a stellar location and could jumpstart that end of downtown.

 

 

In my fantasy world I wanted a new arena or soccer stadium/concert venue to be built on the casino site but obviously that didn't happen. I know UC's new athletic director has talked about a new arena to replace the poorly designed dump called 5/3 arena. Ideally I think a smaller version of the KFC Yum Center (16,000 capacity) with the Bearcats and Cyclones as the primary tenant makes sense. I think it should be built near UC and the US bank site be turned into condos.

 

One thing I think the city, especially downtown/riverfront needs is more codos with balconies a la San Diego

Flyboy, a few points:

 

- I agree 100% on condos.  Should US Bank be torn down, condos would make perfect sense in that spot.

-Agree 100% on Broadway Commons; that would have been ideal for an arena and/or yes potentially a 20k soccer stadium (that could have been used for HS football as well) but as you mentioned, that ship has sailed.

- I do think Cincy needs a 20Kish more state of the art arena to attract some larger higher profile events. I think there are several 10kish arenas in the area (UC, XU, NKU, Gardens) that building something smaller is not in our best interest (although if UC wants to build something for themsleves to replace 5/3, more power to 'em.). 

 

Again, if you can include additional convention space as justification not to mention all the additional events we may host, perhaps the idea is more attractive to our residents, who will obviously and understandably have stadium finance fatigue (thank you Mr. Brown). 

Lester - I've also thought that block bounded by Fourth and Fifth just south of the convention center would make a good location for an arena, specifically since it would serve as a defacto convention center expansion also. It's perfectly located near hotels, The Banks and Fountain Square. But the problem would be the absolute lack of parking in that part of downtown. Can you imagine a sold-out event bringing 20,000 people there? Where would they park?

 

So move further north, around Central Parkway and Elm. There's room for an arena up there (perhaps the only place in the CBD there is room) and there's room for parking. Not to mention: the streetcar will roll right by there and even the subway tunnels could be used to provide more access to remote parking sites. The only problem with that location is it's a little bit of a walk to the hotels, but no further than GABP is.

 

I certainly agree that USBank Arena is obsolete and is costing Cincinnati millions in unrealized revenue from events such as the NCAA tournament, large concerts and potentially even an NBA/NHL tenant. Which is why, should we follow the KC/Louisville route and build a new arena without a pro sports tenant, it should be large enough (20K range) to accommodate those leagues in the future. Unfortunately, this economic climate is the absolute worst possible time to propose such an endeavor. This community wouldn't take kindly to it. Because of that, it'll have to wait awhile. It wouldn't hurt for UC basketball to start generating the kind of excitement and crowds it did during the 90s and force the arena issue a little bit.

 

And before anyone says that UC basketball needs to be on campus, consider the rest of the Big East in which UC plays:

 

Georgetown - plays home games off campus in the Chinatown district of Washington, D.C. (home of the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals)

Marquette - plays home games off campus in the downtown Bradley Center (home of the NBA's Bucks)

Providence - plays home games off campus in the downtown Dunkin' Donuts Center

South Florida - plays home games in downtown Tampa at the St. Pete Times Forum (home of the NHL's Lightning)

St. John's - plays home games off campus at Madison Square Garden

Seton Hall - plays home games off campus in Prudential Center in downtown Newark (home of the Devils and Nets)

Louisville - plays home games off campus in the downtown KFC Yum Center

Villanova - plays home games off campus at various locations, including the Palestra and the Wells Fargo Center

 

Depaul also plays off campus, as does soon-to-be new Big East member Memphis.

Assuming Cincy builds a new arena, I think it should go near Union Terminal.

I agree that putting an arena in the West End would be a nice way of creating a place to build a local economy around.

I think the county and city should focus on a larger convention center than an new arena. The Duke center is too small. They should have never settled for a 400,000 square foot convention center. They should have made it at least 1.5 million square feet. It would have drawn the larger conventions in the country.

 

Let Butler Warren county build an arena along the county lines. I don't think they are tapped our on issuing bonds to build one. Hamilton county is too broke right now and are tapped out on issuing bonds.

Lester - I've also thought that block bounded by Fourth and Fifth just south of the convention center would make a good location for an arena, specifically since it would serve as a defacto convention center expansion also. It's perfectly located near hotels, The Banks and Fountain Square. But the problem would be the absolute lack of parking in that part of downtown. Can you imagine a sold-out event bringing 20,000 people there? Where would they park?

 

So move further north, around Central Parkway and Elm. There's room for an arena up there (perhaps the only place in the CBD there is room) and there's room for parking. Not to mention: the streetcar will roll right by there and even the subway tunnels could be used to provide more access to remote parking sites. The only problem with that location is it's a little bit of a walk to the hotels, but no further than GABP is.

 

I certainly agree that USBank Arena is obsolete and is costing Cincinnati millions in unrealized revenue from events such as the NCAA tournament, large concerts and potentially even an NBA/NHL tenant. Which is why, should we follow the KC/Louisville route and build a new arena without a pro sports tenant, it should be large enough (20K range) to accommodate those leagues in the future. Unfortunately, this economic climate is the absolute worst possible time to propose such an endeavor. This community wouldn't take kindly to it. Because of that, it'll have to wait awhile. It wouldn't hurt for UC basketball to start generating the kind of excitement and crowds it did during the 90s and force the arena issue a little bit.

 

And before anyone says that UC basketball needs to be on campus, consider the rest of the Big East in which UC plays:

 

Georgetown - plays home games off campus in the Chinatown district of Washington, D.C. (home of the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals)

Marquette - plays home games off campus in the downtown Bradley Center (home of the NBA's Bucks)

Providence - plays home games off campus in the downtown Dunkin' Donuts Center

South Florida - plays home games in downtown Tampa at the St. Pete Times Forum (home of the NHL's Lightning)

St. John's - plays home games off campus at Madison Square Garden

Seton Hall - plays home games off campus in Prudential Center in downtown Newark (home of the Devils and Nets)

Louisville - plays home games off campus in the downtown KFC Yum Center

Villanova - plays home games off campus at various locations, including the Palestra and the Wells Fargo Center

 

Depaul also plays off campus, as does soon-to-be new Big East member Memphis.

 

 

Don't forget UK.

where the Newport ovation site is...

 

25k plus arena

Slap the name Kentucky "anything" on an NBA team

Get regional NCAA basketball there

Major Concerts

Market a 2nd convention center around it and the new neigborhood...

winning...

^Kenton county can not afford it. It only has like 145k  population. Unless the state kicks in 80% of the costs and that's not happening.

^ Newport is in Campbell County, but the point still stands.

Yo, I thought of that spot in Newport as well and that actually would work well too but as someone that first and foremost believes in strengthening the Cincy urban core as the key driver to the region, I would still prefer it downtown. 

 

Unusualfire, the arena would in fact be a way to focus on more convention space.  If you connected it with a skywalk, you would have additional space that compliemtns the existing space well.  As for your Butler/Warren idea, I can't picture a less productive location for an arena than Butler or Warrem.  I agree a football stadium can operate effectively in the middle of nowehere but arenas , for the most part, are all located in urban areas and stimulate those specific neigborhoods.  They would boost tourism, hotel ocupancy, restaurants, bars, andoverall activity; you would wouldn't see nearly that boost  in Warren county where people would essentially have to drive to the arena to and from their hotels, essentially parking, attending the event and leaving. 

 

West End could be an otion to develop that area but again, it seems like it would be more of an in and out type of solution. I certainly would prefer that to Butler county.

Cincinnati's market is too saturated for NBA and NHL would be tough as well.

 

While I would like to see the city build an arena, the best option is to hope for UC to build something in Clifton because A: They need a new arena and B: That area would be good for development. Perhaps if UC moves all football games to PBS then the Nippert site would be available for a 16,000 seat arena that could hold 20,000 or so for concerts. For example, Nationwide seats about 18,000 for NHL hockey.

 

There has to be other sites uptown as well. Perhaps the Kroger area where the streetcar stop is going to be?

The Newport spot would have been great, but NKU just built a new facility up the hill with some state support - so there is that. I think the West End near Union Terminal would be great, especially as a reason to run a streetcar line to Union Terminal and points west. Otherwise, I do think West Chester/Mason/Butler Cty. would be good. I think getting Miami Univ. involved would be good. They have always had trouble getting attendance in Oxford.

Cincinnati's market is too saturated for NBA and NHL would be tough as well.

 

While I would like to see the city build an arena, the best option is to hope for UC to build something in Clifton because A: They need a new arena and B: That area would be good for development. Perhaps if UC moves all football games to PBS then the Nippert site would be available for a 16,000 seat arena that could hold 20,000 or so for concerts. For example, Nationwide seats about 18,000 for NHL hockey.

 

There has to be other sites uptown as well. Perhaps the Kroger area where the streetcar stop is going to be?

 

What about a new Cincinnati Gardens? At the same location? Tear down the existing facility and replace it with a state-of-the-art new Gardens. That would keep it in the city and be a boon for Bond Hill and the surrounding area. And there is adjoining land to develop for hotels, restaurants, etc. There's easy access to that location from I75 and the Norwood Lateral. Then you could tear down the awful USBank Arena and build the desired condos or a hotel on that spot.

 

I'd just as soon keep the arena in Cincinnati and out of the northern suburbs and also out of northern Kentucky. We don't need an NBA team to eventually move here and call themselves the Kentucky Colonels (or whatever). We also don't need NCAA regionals with Newport, Ky., written on the floor, etc.

 

Plus, if it's in the burbs or NKY, UC wouldn't be able to use it as a home venue - this defeating one of the primary reasons for building a new arena.

An arena needs, at bare minimum, a 600x400 foot site.  So some of these suggestions are impossible.

 

The place to do it is at the Central Parkway elbow, on the site of the Charles St. substation, and space either to the north or south of that.

where the Newport ovation site is...

 

25k plus arena

Slap the name Kentucky "anything" on an NBA team

Get regional NCAA basketball there

Major Concerts

Market a 2nd convention center around it and the new neigborhood...

winning...

 

The one and only choice for name for that franchise would be The Kentucky Colonels

I've been thinking about this too. It could be home for the Bearcats, Cyclones, and maybe arena football or indoor soccer, etc. Obviously if it is right next to the casino it would be a prime new location for boxing, maybe MMA, and shows like Cirque du Soleil. Maybe eventually an NBA team, but probably not for 10+ years (until Cincy's downtown population and renown grows.

 

Something like this might work.... There could be 2-3 levels of subterranean parking, or the parking for the casino could be expanded to accommodate. I would rather expand the riverfront park around GABP into the current US Bank Area location than build Condos personally (maybe a restaurant or something too)

 

 

PS OMG why is are verification letter so ridiculously illegible!!!!!

what about tearing down the  Krogers and building it right there on WHT in between corry st euclid and jerfferson.

That could still be considered "on campus" for most / all of the student population.

That spot would also create a good amount of parking that would make for a nice tailgate spot for football games.

I made the mistake of suggesting a public arena for UC on City Data and was met with the typical hail of hissing cobras. 

 

There are a lot of things that could happen in the UC area.  Sigma Sigma Commons, the EPA site, the big lot at Reading & MLK, etc.  Before the Cintas Center was built, I remember thinking that a public arena could be built on that lot and be shared by UC and Xavier.

 

Also, another possible site would be the undeveloped lot in City West, which would help the thin argument for a streetcar line to Union Terminal on Ezzard Charles. 

An arena needs, at bare minimum, a 600x400 foot site.  So some of these suggestions are impossible.

 

The place to do it is at the Central Parkway elbow, on the site of the Charles St. substation, and space either to the north or south of that.

 

I like this. I see an arena as an opportunity for a big project to extend development of OTR and Downtown west.

 

The University Plaza idea is also not bad, and it's on the streetcar line (bonus!).

 

Imagining condos being built in Bond Hill due to a new Cincinnati Gardens is very much wishful thinking IMO. The project has to be synergistic with its surroundings in order to spur development at all, other than maybe a hotel or two.

That spot would also create a good amount of parking that would make for a nice tailgate spot for football games.

 

That's the exact spot I was talking about. A 16-18,000 seat arena with a parking structure might fit there and would be great for UC students and would be on a streetcar stop IIRC. You may have to close/rearrange the streets though.

I'm thinking I like the BC site best.  Use YUM! as the model.

The elbow on Central parkway is a possibility as it could certainly be a catalyst for that section of town but I still think one of the benefits of 4th street is a connection/additional space to the covention center.  BC would be terrible.

Just wondering, how many historic buildings would be demolished by putting an arena on 4th?

The elbow on Central parkway is a possibility as it could certainly be a catalyst for that section of town but I still think one of the benefits of 4th street is a connection/additional space to the covention center.  BC would be terrible.

 

I agree that a Broadway Commons arena would be terrible. Without even trying, attaching/linking a new 20,000-seat arena to a casino would forever keep the NBA and NHL away. And I doubt UC, X or the NCAA would be thrilled about playing games there either.

 

Broadway Commons is a no go. Perhaps a small arena (6K-7K) for boxing or MMA, but that's about it. I like the Central Parkway elbow suggestion.

^I believe there was talk of doing just that, a small boxing arena attached to the casino. I've never heard anything else about it aside from maybe one article.

 

Cincinnati is definitely in need of a new, major, arena. US Bank Arena is out of date. Look at the circus when it comes here... they set up on the street cause the arena is so small on the inside.

 

IMHO, if Cincinnati builds a new arena they need to go big or just keep USBA. A 20,000 seat, modern facility like Nationwide Arena in Columbus or the Sprint Center in Kansas City. NKU has the BOKC which is super nice, medium sized facility. Even without a major tenant, a city our size should have a large arena to attract the big concerts. NBA wouldn't be likely at the moment, but a new facility and the right people and I bet you could lure a team here.

 

The NHL will never put a team in Cincinnati so long as Columbus exists and even if they didn't, our market was passed over time and time again by the NHL. That being said, this market could support AHL and "real" arena football.

 

I don't see UC moving their basketball games downtown. They did that in the past and moved to campus once they got their own arena. I wouldn't be surprised if when they do push for a new arena, they make it a UC facility and not a downtown multi purpose arena. The Gardens is absolutely classic, but it's privately owned and I can assure you that the people who own it do not have the capital to build a modern, 20,000 seating facility.

 

The suburbs provides the land, but what are you gonna do after the game? Screw that.

 

Dream Plan: Build the arena on the other side of I-75 on the west side of the city. Bridge it over the highway to the convention center. Have the court/hockey rink face east to west with a nice glass atrium on the arena that faces downtown. Take the former USBA spot, move Pete Rose Way over a little bit so you can fit rail to the transit center and have the rest be an extension of Sawyer Point with a prominent memorial to The Who concert victims.

We can't even afford the stadiums as is - I wonder how you would be able to realistically sell the idea of an arena to the county?

We can't even afford the stadiums as is - I wonder how you would be able to realistically sell the idea of an arena to the county?

 

More accurately "We can't even afford the stadiums while maintaining the property tax rollback as is"

Anywhere but the riverfront.

While I would like to see the city build an arena, the best option is to hope for UC to build something in Clifton because A: They need a new arena and B: That area would be good for development. Perhaps if UC moves all football games to PBS then the Nippert site would be available for a 16,000 seat arena that could hold 20,000 or so for concerts. For example, Nationwide seats about 18,000 for NHL hockey.

 

I really doubt UC would build an arena on the site of Nippert. They promote the fact that Nippert is the "fourth-oldest playing site and fifth-oldest stadium in college football."

What about a new Cincinnati Gardens? At the same location? Tear down the existing facility and replace it with a state-of-the-art new Gardens. That would keep it in the city and be a boon for Bond Hill and the surrounding area. And there is adjoining land to develop for hotels, restaurants, etc. There's easy access to that location from I75 and the Norwood Lateral. Then you could tear down the awful USBank Arena and build the desired condos or a hotel on that spot.

 

The old Showcase Cinemas location in Bond Hill would have been great (for a suburban location), but I believe that lot will soon be occupied by a mega-church.

^lol That's not suburban.

So I guess being attached to a casino is a bad stigma?  OK.  Nevermind then.  Let's go with 4th.  I wouldn't think any historics would need to go.  ???  Just the horrible Convention Place.  The building with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation in it and a parking garage.  I'm assuming it would fit in that block bound by 4th/5th-Elm/Plum.

The old Showcase Cinemas location in Bond Hill would have been great (for a suburban location), but I believe that lot will soon be occupied by a mega-church.

 

That lot has had "Coming Soon" signage for close to two years now, I'd say.  I've seen no activity.

Sherman, that is why I pitched a convention expansion.  If you it is ownetd a a City/county owned sports authority, they will reap the benefits from the revenue generated versus the stadiums, which makes brown rich while we pay.  I think many of these muni sports organizations have been successful from an arena standpoint.

 

On 4th street I don't believe any of those structures are historic but I may be wrong on that; they certainly don't look too historic.

 

With regards to UC or XU, I don't think they have had much motivation in playing at US Bank arena.  Doesn't add much.  But an realier poster brought up Vsome other BE teams as ana example and I look at Villanova as a successful model that has an on campus arena but plays 3 games at the state of the art Wells Fargo Center which is 20k.  They generate a ton more money and can sell out when n/c they schedule big opponents there.  If UC or XU played the shootout there and maybe 1 or 2 other big games a year, they would make a lot more money and I think fans would be a lot more motivated to go versus US BankArena where the environment is so damn bland and sterile. The Philly arena has a huge bar area with a live band and amazing food options.  It is a great expereince and i would love to see something like that here; host maybe 4 or 5 UC/XU games a year and maybe 1 Miami game as well. 

^lol That's not suburban.

 

Bond Hill is a suburban style neighborhood in the City of Cincinnati.  In 1930 it WAS the only suburbs. 

>I'm assuming it would fit in that block bound by 4th/5th-Elm/Plum.

 

Let Me Google (Earth) That For You.

 

Again, a modern arena needs at least a 600x400ft. footprint.  That block is 400x400. 

 

 

They should string a new arena up on the wiremobile.

 

MOBILE-RENA. PROBLEM SOLVED!

Bond Hill is not a suburb or surburban.  In 1870, Avondale was Cincinnati's most prominent suburb, complete with a national reputation even.  Clifton is also a member of that club.

 

Sharing an arena with UC makes sense, depends on whether they would play downtown or not though.  I'm sure a lot of that would have to do with student access to the arena (streetcar).  The bottom of 6th street provides the lot and the possiblity of community stimulus on the westside of downtown. 

 

Annual revenue in the millions either floats to Cleveland or goes out of state because the city doesn't feel any urgency to stake a claim on that revenue.

 

 

>I'm assuming it would fit in that block bound by 4th/5th-Elm/Plum.

 

Let Me Google (Earth) That For You.

 

Again, a modern arena needs at least a 600x400ft. footprint.  That block is 400x400. 

 

 

 

Thanks.  Didn't know.  Out of curiosity, what is YUM!'s footprint? 

 

No direction to go to expand.  The only half-way workable solution would be closure of the Plum stub and go west but the next block west is historic district.  Correct?

 

I guess that settles that then. 

There has been a lot written, especially in the past few years, about the elusive benefits of constructing new stadiums with public financing.  Even the new stadiums built for the Yankees and Mets in NYC, which Mayor Bloomberg very publicly lobbied for and succeeded in getting primarily paid for by the teams, have cost hundreds of millions in public funds with questionable long-term financial benefits.  We all know the tax issues and public discord over the stadiums in Cincinnati, particularly PBS.  Similar issues with arenas have been less prevalent, in part I think because of the potential for arenas to be used for more than just the sport for which they are designated, but they still exist.  Nationwide Arena in Columbus has been a huge financial failure and that is with an NHL tenant to anchor it.

So I guess being attached to a casino is a bad stigma?  OK.  Nevermind then. 

 

Pro and college sports are extremely wary of gambling (and for good reason, in light of what can happen when gamblers hook up with athletes).  There has been talk for a long time about whether one of the pro leagues will put a team in Las Vegas. 

Sherman, that is why I pitched a convention expansion.  If you it is ownetd a a City/county owned sports authority, they will reap the benefits from the revenue generated versus the stadiums, which makes brown rich while we pay.  I think many of these muni sports organizations have been successful from an arena standpoint.

 

On 4th street I don't believe any of those structures are historic but I may be wrong on that; they certainly don't look too historic.

 

With regards to UC or XU, I don't think they have had much motivation in playing at US Bank arena.  Doesn't add much.  But an realier poster brought up Vsome other BE teams as ana example and I look at Villanova as a successful model that has an on campus arena but plays 3 games at the state of the art Wells Fargo Center which is 20k.  They generate a ton more money and can sell out when n/c they schedule big opponents there.  If UC or XU played the shootout there and maybe 1 or 2 other big games a year, they would make a lot more money and I think fans would be a lot more motivated to go versus US BankArena where the environment is so damn bland and sterile. The Philly arena has a huge bar area with a live band and amazing food options.  It is a great expereince and i would love to see something like that here; host maybe 4 or 5 UC/XU games a year and maybe 1 Miami game as well. 

 

I have no idea on the finances, but I don't know that selling more tickets will definitively make it worth it for UC or X to play games at an arena owned by someone else.  They make all the revenue (including concessions) when they host something on campus.  I have to think that if it made financial sense for either of them to play games in a bigger arena, you'd at least be seeing games at US Bank arena already.  They haven't done that--the only games there have been the sort of one-offs done for very specific reasons (e.g., like when XU played Kansas State (I think it was) at US Bank Arena--that was done contractually because that's where the Huggins-coached K-State team wanted the games to be). 

Sherman, that is why I pitched a convention expansion.  If you it is ownetd a a City/county owned sports authority, they will reap the benefits from the revenue generated versus the stadiums, which makes brown rich while we pay.  I think many of these muni sports organizations have been successful from an arena standpoint.

 

On 4th street I don't believe any of those structures are historic but I may be wrong on that; they certainly don't look too historic.

 

With regards to UC or XU, I don't think they have had much motivation in playing at US Bank arena.  Doesn't add much.  But an realier poster brought up Vsome other BE teams as ana example and I look at Villanova as a successful model that has an on campus arena but plays 3 games at the state of the art Wells Fargo Center which is 20k.  They generate a ton more money and can sell out when n/c they schedule big opponents there.  If UC or XU played the shootout there and maybe 1 or 2 other big games a year, they would make a lot more money and I think fans would be a lot more motivated to go versus US BankArena where the environment is so damn bland and sterile. The Philly arena has a huge bar area with a live band and amazing food options.  It is a great expereince and i would love to see something like that here; host maybe 4 or 5 UC/XU games a year and maybe 1 Miami game as well. 

 

The only flaw I see with that is that the Philly arena has an NBA and NHL team as its main tenant. That's roughly 80 or so booked dates a year between those two teams. 'Nova used to play all of their games there at one point so add another 15 or so booked dates to an already highly-booked arena.

 

As I've stated before, Cincy is pretty saturated in the sports market and could probably not support and NBA or NHL team. Xavier doesn't need nor want a new arena, and usually doesn't want to play outside of Cintas Center unless it's against a special opponent. UC, on the other hand, needs a new arena and their athletic director has actively talked about it.

 

The key to a new venue though is dates. The good thing is that an arena is a more cost effective venue than a football stadium but still needs to be filled. With UC you would get at least 30 dates a year between men and women's basketball. Add the Cyclones and you get another 36 or so regular season dates a year. Something seating about 18,000 would be able to host the NCAA every two or three years but you would still need concerts/motorcross/icecapades/etc. to fill the other 250/300 days a year. I think Cincinnati can do it but UC and the Cyclones are going to have to be the main tenant to make it worth while.

Something partly publicly financed on the UC campus would be difficult to make happen, but an NBA or NHL team isn't coming to Cincinnati until we add another million residents.  The only place where a full-sized arena could happen is the Sigma Sigma commons greenspace (which is a joke worthy of constant ridicule).  I'm not sure what they're doing with the 2 remaining "sisters" dorms right now, but building an arena at that corner would be better than squarely on the Sigma Sigma greenspace. 

Forgive this capital city intrusion in your new arena speculation - but I need to correct this inaccuracy.

 

Nationwide Arena in Columbus has been a huge financial failure and that is with an NHL tenant to anchor it.

In the decade since Nationwide Arena opened, there has been over $1 billion of development that has occurred in the surrounding downtown Arena District.  Development that would not have occurred without the anchor of the arena.

 

The financial difficulties involved the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team - mostly because of its arena lease arrangement.  The arena was 100% privately built by Nationwide Insurance.  The Blue Jackets team ownership leased the arena from Nationwide.  This meant that the team was responsible for the arena maintenance, booking events and other expenses.  But because the arena was privately built by Nationwide, and not by the team ownership, many sources of revenue customarily available to team ownership were unavailable here (such as arena naming rights and parking garage revenues).  Eventually this lease arrangement became unsustainable for the team.  Which why Nationwide, the team, the City of Columbus and Franklin County reworked this arrangement last year.

 

I won't go into the entire deal - but it generally involved the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority purchasing the arena from Nationwide in exchange for Nationwide purchasing a 30% ownership stake in the Blue Jackets and paying for arena naming rights over the next 10 years.  The new arrangement will bring in additional revenue to the Blue Jackets team and will remove their previous expenses.  In exchange, the team agreed to remain in Columbus until 2039.

 

For more information on the previous Nationwide Arena/Blue Jackets leasing arrangement see this post.  For more information on the new Nationwide Arena deal see this post.

 

Please carry on.

Forgive this capital city intrusion in your new arena speculation - but I need to correct this inaccuracy.

 

Nationwide Arena in Columbus has been a huge financial failure and that is with an NHL tenant to anchor it.

In the decade since Nationwide Arena opened, there has been over $1 billion of development that has occurred in the surrounding downtown Arena District.  Development that would not have occurred without the anchor of the arena.

 

The financial difficulties involved the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team - mostly because of its arena lease arrangement.  The arena was 100% privately built by Nationwide Insurance.  The Blue Jackets team ownership leased the arena from Nationwide.  This meant that the team was responsible for the arena maintenance, booking events and other expenses.  But because the arena was privately built by Nationwide, and not by the team ownership, many sources of revenue customarily available to team ownership were unavailable here (such as arena naming rights and parking garage revenues).  Eventually this lease arrangement became unsustainable for the team.  Which why Nationwide, the team, the City of Columbus and Franklin County reworked this arrangement last year.

 

I won't go into the entire deal - but it generally involved the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority purchasing the arena from Nationwide in exchange for Nationwide purchasing a 30% ownership stake in the Blue Jackets and paying for arena naming rights over the next 10 years.  The new arrangement will bring in additional revenue to the Blue Jackets team and will remove their previous expenses.  In exchange, the team agreed to remain in Columbus until 2039.

 

For more information on the previous Nationwide Arena/Blue Jackets leasing arrangement see this post.  For more information on the new Nationwide Arena deal see this post.

 

Please carry on.

 

Thank you for the additional insight and for adding context to my post, which was written in haste and without proper clarification.  My reference was to the arena itself and the unsustainability of how it specifically was financed.  The economic development in the Arena District has been a boon for the City of Columbus.  The Arena itself, however, has certainly not been a profitable venture. 

 

PS OMG why is are verification letter so ridiculously illegible!!!!!

 

Spammers ruin it for everyone!  I've lowered it one level, thanks for the input.