Agreement reached on Seattle arena plan

The plan calls for nearly $300 million in private investment from Hansen's group. The amount of public support would be capped at $120 million if it's only the NBA making a return to the Puget Sound region. It would be $200 million if NBA and NHL franchises are involved.

But the bulk of the MOU focused on the financial details of the public investment ramon sessions lakers jersey for sale, which is to be paid for through taxes and revenues generated by the new arena and has a number of public protections included.

"Our job is, as soon as possible, when we have an agreement in place, we'll be very aggressive in our efforts to make sure that everybody knows that we would like to have a franchise back here,'' Hansen said. "I don't want to comment on specific franchises again, but we'll do the best that we can.''

The agreement now goes before the Seattle City Council and King County Council for review. Both entities would need to approve the agreement for the project to move forward. No construction would begin until after a franchise has been acquired.

The proposal included two significant changes, the result of three months of negotiations between Hansen and the local municipalities, from the original unveiled in February. The agreement indicates that construction on the facility could begin with only an NBA franchise on board. Previously, it was believed that both an NBA and an NHL franchise would need to be committed tenants to make the plan work.

All construction costs, including overruns, would be paid for by Hansen's group customized nba jerseys, along with all environmental studies and permitting. Once that process is completed, most of the public investment is placed on the city.

The city, King County and private investor Chris Hansen announced a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday laying out the financial responsibilities for the proposed venue.

The goal is still to bring both professional leagues, but the project can move forward with only the NBA in hand, which is the focus of Hansen, a San Francisco hedge-fund manager and main investor in the project.

Other little nuggets are laid out within the 24-page MOU, including the bullet point that any NBA team using the facility will have to be named the SuperSonics, subject to NBA approval. Hansen also included a side letter where he suggests that KeyArena would be used for up to two years as a temporary home with a handful of upgrades paid for by Hansen's investor group, ArenaCo. Following its use as a temporary facility new jersey nets basketball jerseys, Hansen suggests KeyArena could become a smaller arena, a theater venue or exhibition center.

And if an NHL team turns out to not be part of the equation, the public investment will be less than originally believed.

The project calls for about $290 million in private investment from Hansen's group, along with $200 million from the city and county through 30-year bonds. Any franchise that comes to Seattle and uses the arena would be required to sign a non-relocation agreement that would span the life of those bonds.

Attempts to build a nearly $500 million arena that could bring the NBA back to Seattle took another step forward on Wednesday.