Funding for a new Virginia Beach arena still needs to be finalized, with the project developer needing to officially close on a loan.
Mid-Atlantic Arena has been planning to move forward with the construction of a new arena in Virginia Beach. In order for that effort to proceed, however, the financial aspects of the project must be resolved.
The current plan calls for the developer to raise $70 million in private equity, and obtain a $150 million loan from JPMorgan Chase. The City of Virginia Beach has already given Mid-Atlantic Arena more time to finalize the funding, and the November deadline is approaching.
In recent comments, Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms sounded confident that the financing can be finalized by the November deadline, but believed that the developer was still working to raise the full private equity. Mid-Atlantic Arena, however, says it is not seeking additional investors and that it is a matter of finishing paperwork. More from The Virginian Pilot:
“Equity in that amount is a huge amount,” the mayor said. “However, I have been told … that they are very close to obtaining the full amount.”
Sessoms said he did not know for sure how much money the developer still needed to raise but said he was told it was less than $10 million.
Andrea Kilmer, president of ESG Companies, the parent company of Mid-Atlantic Arena, said her team doesn’t need more investors. It just needs to finish signing the paperwork with the ones they have.
“The commitments are there,” she said. “It is a matter of having all of the different documents that have to be drafted. Nothing that should create any cause for concern.”
The contract for the project calls for the arena to open in October 2019, otherwise the agreement can be terminated by the city. A two-month extension for securing the loan was granted in August, placing the current deadline at November 6.
