The involved parties are working towards a meeting.
No fast break yet in talks
NBA, Cal Expo teams prep for upcoming arena discussions.
By Terri Hardy And Mary Lynne Vellinga - thardy@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, December 8, 2007
A month after former Gov. Pete Wilson was hired to negotiate with the NBA for a new Kings arena at the Cal Expo fairgrounds, formal talks have yet to take place and no timeline for discussions has been set.
Instead, both sides say they are doing their homework, putting together a needs list, updating the cost of the proposed work and investigating how to financially make the project pencil out.
"Everyone has agreed to get all our ducks in order so when we have a meeting it will be meaningful," said Rex Hime, a Cal Expo board member. "Otherwise, it will just be a bunch of lawyers looking at each other and billing us for their time."
The basic concept of the arena plan is to craft a commercial and housing development on the state-owned site that would produce enough profit to pay for an arena and revamp the 40-year-old fairgrounds.
The Cal Expo board contracted with Wilson and other consultants from international law firm Bingham McCutchen to lead negotiations from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. It was hoped that within 30 days, Wilson, a lawyer, along with sports consultant Gregory Clark could hammer out a memorandum of understanding that resolves major deal points between the NBA and Cal Expo.
