Published: 2 years 26 days ago
Sacramento Bee: A lot of people are skeptical that the "convergence" arena proposal – the policy equivalent of a three-cushion trick shot in pool – can be pulled off.
So to find out if this proposal is doable, there's no harm in the Sacramento City Council taking the next step Tuesday night, approving an exclusive negotiating agreement with the development group led by Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor.
The agreement would initially go for 120 days, during which the Kamilos team would prepare a more detailed plan. The city would focus on whether the deal works financially; under the pact, Kamilos would give the city as much as $170,000 to hire outside consultants and experts.
The Kamilos group proposes to put a new sports and entertainment arena on city land in the downtown railyard; buy the Cal Expo property from the state; and give the state the Arco Arena site in Natomas, along with 100 adjacent city-owned acres, for a new state fairgrounds. Selling parcels at Cal Expo for development would help raise the cash to move the State Fair and build the $400 million arena.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/26/2704703/arena-plan-takes-wing-then-what.html
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