Sacramento Kings Unveil Final Renderings Of Downtown Arena
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — After months of seeing possibilities of what a new Sacramento Kings arena could look like, the actual look of the arena was finally revealed.
The arena will have a smaller seating capacity than the Kings' current home at Sleep Train Arena, but have 50 percent more square footage.
The arena, slated to be built at the current Downtown Plaza, is set to break ground this summer and open in October 2016.
Team owner Vivek Ranadive has said the arena will be the most innovative in the world, saying it will be on postcards throughout the state.
"When we bought the Sacramento Kings, we committed to the NBA and to the people of Sacramento that we wouldn't just build a new arena, but that we'd build a world-class entertainment venue, an arena truly for the 21st century," Ranadive said in a press release.
The reveal is part of an organized push. The new arena plan will be focus of the State of the Downtown address on Tuesday where Mayor Kevin Johnson and the president of the Icon Venue Group will speak.
The reveal comes less than a week after a bid to put a $258 million arena subsidy to a vote on the June ballot was stopped by Sacramento City Clerk Shirley Concolino.
Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork had collected more than the 22,000 petitions necessary, but Concolino said the group had used nine versions of a petition that had different wording. In addition, none of the versions of the petition included an enacting clause.
A legal battle over the validity of the petitions is likely.
The Kings acquired the Downtown Plaza property last week from a private firm in a deal where the terms were undisclosed.
A building that once housed the Macy's Men's store at 600 K Street is one of the last pieces of the puzzle for an arena. It is currently owned by CalPERS who have not agreed to a sale with the City of Sacramento or the Kings.
The building has been vacant since late last year when the store announced it was consolidating its downtown locations into one building.
Earlier this month, the Sacramento City Council approved taking eminent domain action on the property, a move which CalPERS did not oppose, but U.S. Bank, which holds a ground lease on the property, did oppose.