Building an arena without raising taxes, for a private enterprise that makes very good money, isn’t such an unusual idea that it needed an outside pair of eyes to discover, but sometimes that is how things work, it takes that kind of vision and persuasion to move forward.
Maybe he could take a look at K Street.
Arena talks OK'd
Cal Expo, NBA to seek a deal at fairgrounds that avoids new taxes.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga and Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writers
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 29, 2007
It didn't take much time or discussion Friday for the Cal Expo board to bless the idea of opening talks with the NBA over putting a new arena at the state fairgrounds.
Before the unanimous vote, members said the decision was easy, and that an urban development anchored by an arena could be the answer to the cash-strapped Cal Expo's long quest for more money to modernize the fairgrounds.
"I don't think we can do anything but agree to go forward and look at it," said board member Gilbert Albiani, a Realtor from Elk Grove.
Now comes the hard part.
In the months ahead, representatives of Cal Expo and the National Basketball Association will try to do the seemingly impossible: come up with a plan to build a new Kings arena without imposing any new taxes on the public.
The idea is to lease some of state-owned Cal Expo's 360-acre gold mine of underused land to a developer for building stores, offices and homes. NBA and Cal Expo officials hope such a development could produce enough money to both fund an arena as well as refurbish the fairgrounds. The price tag could easily top $650 million.
