City of Sacramento to Chip in $255 Million for Kings’ New Arena

Now that a deal has been reached to build a new arena for the Kings, it’s time to open up the old pocketbook. The building will cost the city of Sacramento over $255 million. Per the Sac Bee: “Sacramento city officials will release details [Thursday] of the arena deal reached earlier this week with the Kings, including this notable number: $255,530,000. That’s the amount Mayor Kevin Johnson and his negotiators agreed the city officially will contribute to building an arena in the downtown railyard by 2015. The official price tag of the arena was also bumped up from $387 million to $391 million. The figures are contained in a 15-20 page ‘term sheet’ agreed to Monday during negotiations between the city, the Sacramento Kings, the NBA and several private companies. The Bee received a City Hall briefing today on some of the deal points. Key elements: The Kings will sign a lease obligating the team and any potential future owners to remain in Sacramento for 30 years. The city will allow the Kings to refinance their existing $67 million city loan. A five percent surcharge will be applied on all tickets sold at the arena, for sports and non-sports events. That money will go to the city. The city receives a percentage of net profits earned by the arena operator. The anticipated prep and construction cost estimate for the arena has nudged up from a previous $387 million to $391 million. Another $3 million of the $391 million is slated to come from a public campaign, led by the mayor and Councilman Steve Cohn, where residents can purchase engraved bricks and plaques to be included at the facility site.