The Quicken Loans Arena renovation plan took a step forward on Friday, with city officials signed off on design concepts for the project.
In order to modernize the venue’s amenities, the Cleveland Cavaliers are working with the city, Destination Cleveland, and Cuyahoga County on a $140 million overhaul to Quicken Loans Arena. At least one of the major points of emphasis for the renovation concerns social spaces, as the Cavaliers are looking to expand the venue in order to have additional room for interior gathering places.
Cleveland’s planning commission discussed the renovations on Friday, and it ultimately approved the early designs. With this approval, the Cavaliers have taken another toward what should amount to a major expansion of the arena. More from The Cleveland Plain Dealer:
“The Q has never been an arena featured on postcards,” Len Komoroski, CEO of the Cavaliers and the arena, said at Friday’s meeting. “It’s not necessarily an iconic structure as it relates to Cleveland.”
In broad strokes, the project will give the arena a completely new personality along the facades facing north to Huron Road and wrapping around corners on the west and east sides of the building.
The Cavs will remove the existing facades, and the overhead walkway connecting the Q to a garage to the northwest.
Then they’ll push the building’s outer faces much closer to the adjacent sidewalk edges along Ontario and Huron. The expansion will capture an additional 40,000 square feet on the ground level, creating space for safer and more comfortable queuing and exiting.
As part of the agreement for the renovations, the Cavaliers are extending their stay at Quicken Loans Arena through 2034, with a pair of options potentially allowing the team to remain at the venue through 2044. The renovations are expected to be completed at some point in 2019.
The financial framework calls for the Cavs’ contribution to come through increased rent payments, with the team slated to pay a total of $92.8 million from 2018-2034. The City of Cleveland will contribute more than $88 million in admissions tax revenue from Quicken Loans Arena from 2024-2034, while more than $44 million is coming from Destination Cleveland, and Cuyahoga County will allocate $16 million from its reserve fund for the convention center and Hilton Cleveland Downtown.
Rendering courtesy Gensler/Rossetti.
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