Welcome to the Neighborhood: America’s Sports Stadiums Are Moving Downtown
- 6 years ago
Welcome to the Neighborhood: America’s Sports Stadiums Are Moving Downtown
“But from the perspective of economic development and economic resurgence,” he said, “it’s the best $300 million we’ve ever spent.”
Sacramento’s downtown was ready for a makeover back in 2013, when Mr. Ranadivé met
with Mayor Kevin Johnson to consider a pitch by David Stern, then the N. B.A.
“You could have thrown a bowling ball,” he said, “and it wouldn’t have hit a soul.”
Three years after Mr. Ranadivé, the owner of the Kings, partnered with the city to scrape away a nearly empty downtown mall,
and a year after he opened the arena and the 1-million-square-foot commons, Sacramento is a city reborn.
And just like in Sacramento, the 18,000-seat arena, which opens next year, anchors a $1 billion, 11-acre, 680,000 square foot mixed-use development of office
and retail space, and a nearly 6-acre San Francisco Bayfront park.
A decade later, the Power and Light District, developed by the Cordish Companies — whose chief executive, David Cordish, is credited with being a leader in sports-focused mixed-use development — is cited by city officials as the primary reason
that a 2.5-mile, $102 million downtown streetcar line in the city center started in 2016.
“But from the perspective of economic development and economic resurgence,” he said, “it’s the best $300 million we’ve ever spent.”
Sacramento’s downtown was ready for a makeover back in 2013, when Mr. Ranadivé met
with Mayor Kevin Johnson to consider a pitch by David Stern, then the N. B.A.
“You could have thrown a bowling ball,” he said, “and it wouldn’t have hit a soul.”
Three years after Mr. Ranadivé, the owner of the Kings, partnered with the city to scrape away a nearly empty downtown mall,
and a year after he opened the arena and the 1-million-square-foot commons, Sacramento is a city reborn.
And just like in Sacramento, the 18,000-seat arena, which opens next year, anchors a $1 billion, 11-acre, 680,000 square foot mixed-use development of office
and retail space, and a nearly 6-acre San Francisco Bayfront park.
A decade later, the Power and Light District, developed by the Cordish Companies — whose chief executive, David Cordish, is credited with being a leader in sports-focused mixed-use development — is cited by city officials as the primary reason
that a 2.5-mile, $102 million downtown streetcar line in the city center started in 2016.