New Downtown Arena

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt on July 14th State of the City address indicated the our city needs to build a
new arena for our anchor tenant (Oklahoma City Thunder). An arena that will ensure the long-term relationship
between our NBA franchise and our community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcfQQRsppL4

What specifications would you want to see in a new arena:

Capacity - Square Footage - Price Tag - Location

How would you want to fund a new arena:

1. Bonds only - 2. MAPS 4 extension only - 3. Privately funded only - Combination of Bonds, MAPS 4 extension & privately funds.

Time to really go big. Build a large enough arena where you can host the Thunder long-term and bid on events like
the NCAA men's or women's basketball regionals.

Capacity

19,900 seat arena will allow OKC to have a venue to absorb growth, reach out to its fan base--make tickets more affordable for all fans.

Square Footage

900,000 square foot

Price Tag

$640 million = $570 million + $70 million on pause

Location

Four square block Prairie Surf Media Studios (Formerly Cox Convention Center).

Funded

Extend 2017 General Obligation Bonds expire 2027 (Three years) $300 Million
Extend MAPS 4 Initiative expires 2028 (Two years) $270 million

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I think we can get 20% or so from the ownership group. I know that adds risk for OKC, but lowers bond issues. And looks better from an optics perspective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7LxDWDoN3Q

Our NBA peer city arenas:

Memphis Fedex Forum $250 million (2004) $2 million 2019 upgrades
Milwaukee Fiserv Forum $524 million (2018) $20 million 2022 upgrades
New Orleans Smoothie King Center $114 million (1999) $54 million 2014 upgrades
Salt Lake City Vivint Smart Home Arena $93 million (1991) - $125 million 2016 upgrades.

Any omission, please feel free to update . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWhiJSBITRc

The opportunity cost of a new OKC Thunder arena

Jim Stafford's BlogOKC https://jim-stafford.com/tag/berry-tramel/

https://jimstafford.files.wordpress....om2.jpeg?w=660

NBA arenas - top ten:

1. Chase Center, San Francisco, $1.48 billion, 2019 - 18,064
2. Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, $1.2 billion, 2018 - 17,385
3. Barclays Center, Brooklyn, $1 billion/$1.18 billion in 2021 dollars, 2012 - 17,732
4. Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, $862.9/$988 million in 2021 dollars, 2017 - 20,332
5. Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, $558.2 million, 2016 - 17,608
6. Amway Center, Orlando, $480 million/$604 million in 2021dollars, 2010 - 18,846
7. American Airlines Center, Dallas, $420 million/$643 million in 2021 dollars- 2001 - 19,200
8. Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, $375 million/$610 million in 2021 dollars- 1999 - 19,079
9. Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, $265 million/$404 million in 2021 dollars - 1999 - 19,800
10. Moda Center, Portland, $262 million/$466 million in 2021 - 1995 - 19,393

Average cost of the top 10 NBA arenas: $675 million
Average age of the top 10 NBA arenas: 8 years, 6 months
Average capacity of the top 10 NBA arenas: 18,824

Source Thunderwire - July 2022: Ranking all 29 NBA arenas in terms of construction cost: https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/...truction-cost/

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https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...pjpg&auto=webp
This aerial photo shows the MAPS downtown arena amid $89.2 million construction in 2002

The 581,000-square-foot facility was designed to meet National Hockey League requirements. The venue was completed at a cost of $89.2 million and opened its doors on June 8, 2002.

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"A lot of people think of arenas in terms of the seats,” Holt said. “That's only part of the experience that drives revenue for sports teams and concerts alike. You have to have all this other room for all the other elements of user experience. And our square footage (586,000 square feet), is the smallest in all of the NBA and not by a little."--Holt, State of City Address.

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Originally Posted by chssooner

I think we can get 20% or so from the ownership group. I know that adds risk for OKC, but lowers bond issues. And looks better from an optics perspective.

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This makes the best option if you want widespread support of the citizens and voters to insure a top 10 NBA arena that is competitive with markets like Boston, Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee & Toronto.

Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum is the latest small market to build an NBA Arena investing $524 million — $250 million from taxpayers
in various forms, $174 million from the team’s owners and $100 million from former Sen. Herb Kohl, who saved the team from leaving Milwaukee not once but twice.

Pete's suggestion of using the 4-square block Prairie Surf Media--Old Cox-Myriad site makes the best option since it is city
owned and already supports 950 underground parking spaces.

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Originally Posted by Laramie

Pete's suggestion of using the 4-square block Prairie Surf Media--Old Cox-Myriad site makes the best option since it is city
owned and already supports 950 underground parking spaces.
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those spaces will be gone with the site demo ..

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Originally Posted by BoulderSooner

those spaces will be gone with the site demo ..

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Demolition will result in some minor patch work to preserve those spaces; this IMO is the best option for going with this site. City can build on top of that site without having to totally redo below ground parking.

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Originally Posted by Laramie

Demolition will result in some minor patch work to preserve those spaces; this IMO is the best option for going with this site. City can build on top of that site without having to totally redo below ground parking.

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no it won't they will be gone

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Originally Posted by Laramie

Demolition will result in some minor patch work to preserve those spaces; this IMO is the best option for going with this site. City can build on top of that site without having to totally redo below ground parking.

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How far below ground do you think the Paycom Center goes? I'd say 40 to 50 feet, minimum.

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Originally Posted by chssooner

How far below ground do you think the Paycom Center goes? I'd say 40 to 50 feet, minimum.

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the piers I'm sure go much further then that

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chssooner

How far below ground do you think the Paycom Center goes? I'd say 40 to 50 feet, minimum.

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Not sure about the Paycom Center, the old 4-square block site--Prairie Surf Media already has 950 spaces of underground parking.

We still don't know where the new arena will be built.

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Originally Posted by Laramie

Not sure about the Paycom Center, the old 4-square block site--Prairie Surf Media already has 950 spaces of underground parking.

We still don't know where the new arena will be built.

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it is almost for sure on the old cox site and those parking spaces will be wiped out

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Originally Posted by BoulderSooner

it is almost for sure on the old cox site and those parking spaces will be wiped out

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Wiping them out would allow the city to build a better foundation for parking if this site is selected.

Serious question: Why are some folks so outraged over the thought we might subsidize an arena for the Thunder, yet they are OK with subsidizing venues that benefit other industries, like horse shows, river sports, museums and conventions? Is it just the perception that NBA owners are already rich? Seriously not trolling here, but have been thinking about this lately.

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Originally Posted by ChaseDweller

Serious question: Why are some folks so outraged over the thought we might subsidize an arena for the Thunder, yet they are OK with subsidizing venues that benefit other industries, like horse shows, river sports, museums and conventions? Is it just the perception that NBA owners are already rich? Seriously not trolling here, but have been thinking about this lately.

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Or subsidizing multi-billion dollar companies building here, when they can easily afford to build themselves? If someone offers you free money, you take it. People don't get rich turning down free money. Especially since OKC would own the arena, which is key, for me.

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Originally Posted by chssooner

Or subsidizing multi-billion dollar companies building here, when they can easily afford to build themselves? If someone offers you free money, you take it. People don't get rich turning down free money. Especially since OKC would own the arena, which is key, for me.

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It's a shame we didn't recognize that we would need a new arena to replace the current Paycom Center built at a cost of $89.2 million (budgeted) in 2002.

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But the low bidder - Flintco Construction Co. - left Thursday's bid opening worried about possible errors in its $66 million construction proposal...

...Flintco's bid was $10 million below what Oklahoma City budgeted to build the arena - the most expensive single public works project in the city's history.

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Reference: Arena's Low Bid Astounds City Leaders https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...s/62250076007/

It's obvious OKC built a shell of an arena without all the bell & whistles most NBA and NHL arena's possess at the time they were built during the late 90s and early 2000s. Remember when this arena was presented to the NHL in 1995-96 during the NHL 4 team expansion (Awarded to Nashville, Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Columbus) where bids presented by Oklahoma City & Houston were rejected. OKC's bid was rejected because the NHL didn't believe we could build a quality arena on $89.2 million budget.

When completed in 2002 our arena was just a shell. We hosted the New Orleans Hornets (following Katrina, August 2005) which allowed us a trial run with the NBA in which OKC far exceeded expectations (12,000 fans benchmark) with a whopping 18,168 fans our first year hosting an NBA franchise. Later we we awarded the relocation of the Supersonics with a stipulation that our arena would be upgraded. Oklahoma City voters extended MAPS for Kids (2008) to fund $120 million in improvements to the Downtown Arena and an NBA practice facility--a must vote to keep the NBA in our city.

Fast-forward from 2008 to 2022 and we are again left with a decision to remain an NBA city with building a new arena. This time we must get it right.

Options to Fund new arena: MAPS 4 will have to be extended when it expired in 2028 or extend the 2017 Better Streets Safer City Bonds expire in 2027.

Oklahoma City's 'Big City' status will be tested:

Do we have the bonding power--upcoming OKCPS $955 million bond vote and County Jail's recently approved $260 million bonds approved to replace the Oklahoma County Jail. Can someone In-The-Know sort this out.

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Any news or updates on a replacement arena for Paycom Center:

Has the Oklahoma City Council made a motion to being a preliminary study with the Thunder ownership group for a combined effort to address a future arena development project.

Denver's Ball Arena:

https://thestadiumreviews.com/wp-con...er-Parking.jpg

Broke ground, November 20, 1997
Opened October 1, 1999
Construction cost - $187 million
$316 million in 2021 dollars
Architect - HOK Sport
NBA basketball seating capacity: 19,099
NHL ice hockey seating capacity: 18,007

Five level facility - 675,000 square feet of building space,

https://basketballtripper.com/wp-con...a-Interior.jpg

On the Ball Arena seating chart, 100-Level sections are also known as Loge Level Seats. Most Loge sections have 22 rows of seats with seat
1 on your right as you face the action.

Ball Arena has 86 total suites available. Each private suite can hold between 10-20 people, depending on the suite location and level.

Just my opinion, Oklahoma City could build something similar to Ball Arena on a budget of $400 million - $450 million (with 14.1% inflation) on city owned property like Prairie Surf Media 4-square block complex with plenty of room. Advantages of this project would include the under ground parking which could be reconstructed to accommodate a minimum of 900 or more parking spaces.


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The American Airlines Center (Dallas) would make for a good blueprint for a new arena in Oklahoma City.

Something similar to the brick facade:

https://www.americanairlinescenter.c...g/aacenter.jpg

https://alvin-almazov.com/wp-content...nescenter1.jpg

https://alvin-almazov.com/wp-content...nescenter2.jpg

NBA seating capacity 19,200
840,00 square feet
Construction cost: $594 million

Our NBA arena seating capacity should be in the 18,500 range.

You're probably looking at an $800 million arena on the four square block Prairie Media site with the
underground parking reinforced or totally rebuilt.

Really think an arena similar to the brick facade of AA would blend well for the Downtown/Bricktown area.

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No more Brick Facade!

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Originally Posted by Bowser214

No more Brick Facade!

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Exceptionally well said. Brick facades are fine for college football stadia, but honestly have no cognizable place in a BLC arena design.

What would either one of you (bower214 or April in the Plaza) like to see.

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Originally Posted by Laramie

What would either one of you (bower214 or April in the Plaza) like to see.

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I’d lean towards something like Fiserv. Basically just lots of glass and steel. And then more glass.

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