Sacramento will negotiate a potential lease of parking spaces with 11 suitors — with the proceeds being a cornerstone of a funding plan for a new Sacramento Kings (NBA) arena.
The city is under the gun to show the NBA and the Kings a viable arena-financing plan before a March 1 deadline. A key part of the $400-million plan is selling downtown parking revenues to raise $200 million. Now, being that it’s already Feb. 15, it’s certainly ambitious for the city to be negotiating a $200 million lease simultaneously with 11 different firms while at the same time trying to figure out how to replace the $9 million such a lease would remove annually from city coffers. And, to boot, the city wants to keep some level of control over the parking spots.
If such a sale can be finalized, the next steps will be convincing the Maloofs to pay $80 million toward the new arena, negotiate a management deal with AEG that calls for the firm to pay $50 million up front, and then somehow find another $70 million to finish financing the project.
Color us skeptical.
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