Mr. Brewster has written a story about the local need for infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy. Naturally he mentions the Convention Center, but notes that it could get "bogged down in planning".
That is because they do not have a plan yet, they have a want. A plan isn't a plan without a schedule. The City of Seattle could act on that 75 million dollars right now.
3 weeks until the state task force meets. The city can beat the convention center to the finish line with an actionable plan.
Read David Brewster's story here at http://crosscut.com
Showing posts with label Brewster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brewster. Show all posts
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
CrossCut.com: New tax for KeyArena? A big maybe
David Brewster at Crosscut.com has taken another run at expressing the Washington State Convention & Trade Center's (WSCTC) point of view on the City of Seattle's desire to use the hotel tax that is collected within Seattle for the state/public portion of Seattle's Key Arena renovation.
WSCTC is closer to identifying an actual site to expand to, they are not there yet. They are closer to knowing how big the new facility will be, they are not there yet. They do want to expand in order to satisfy the over population of hotels in Seattle.
It is interesting that people comment at Crosscut and in the stories at the Seattle Times and Seattle PI that the money should go toward Pike Place Market because it is such a tourist attraction. The question there is: is Pike PLace Market the reason people come to Seattle?
The hotel folks are wanting an expansion of convention space to draw people in from far and wide. I do not see them asking for Pike Place Market to be expanded. I am sure they do not want it to look like a dump, and the city has responded with a measure on the ballot next Tuesday. People will vote for that, not me, but people that comment on these kinds of stories in media outlets.
Having a 15 to 17 thousand seat arena that can actually attract major out of town non-sports events seams to be more in line with what the hotel people are wanting, a place for people to gather for events. While those people are here from out of town I am sure they will go to Pike Place Market as something to do while they are here for their event.
As far as WSCTC providing construction jobs, they are much further away from having an actionable plan than the Key Arena project. If the city had money 6 months ago I think we would see hard hats at Seattle Center today marking up the site for construction.
Something not quite said in David Brewster's story is that unstable timeline of getting a team into Key Arena, and Steve Ballmer paying for the sports effected portion of the renovation, 150 million dollars worth. That is an unknown to them, and I do not think they want the schedule sliding into a window where the WSCTC would want to break ground and have funding for its activity, fair, or fare enough.
What Deputy dog Tim Ceis is telling David Brewster is that they want to use the state money and do the public portion of the renovation even if there isn't an NBA team available right away. That is the hard sell, that isn't the impression they had been giving in public. They had position much of this as just having revenue available if a NBA team could be procured by Steve Ballmer.
The city had a study two years ago that said that Key Arena would need at least 30 million in basic upgrades just to make it a minor league venue without the NBA. That infrastructure and non-sports construction would have to happen no matter what happened with the NBA or state. It looks to me like Ceis and the state are resolving the WSCTC uneasiness with the soft NBA timeline by funding that statement of work, and whatever else they are including (parking garage, or enclosure of the Key footprint?) with the state portion. If this is the case then it does make some sense for the effected WSCTC, and it could infuse the area with construction jobs in a hurry.
This could satisfy WSCTC timeline concerns, stimulate the economy with some jobs right now, and show the NBA that we are going to improve the facility on our own no matter what Ballmer does do. Being able to commit putting an NBA team in Seattle would go much faster if construction was in motion, even if it isn't the sports effected portion of the statement of work.
WSCTC is closer to identifying an actual site to expand to, they are not there yet. They are closer to knowing how big the new facility will be, they are not there yet. They do want to expand in order to satisfy the over population of hotels in Seattle.
It is interesting that people comment at Crosscut and in the stories at the Seattle Times and Seattle PI that the money should go toward Pike Place Market because it is such a tourist attraction. The question there is: is Pike PLace Market the reason people come to Seattle?
The hotel folks are wanting an expansion of convention space to draw people in from far and wide. I do not see them asking for Pike Place Market to be expanded. I am sure they do not want it to look like a dump, and the city has responded with a measure on the ballot next Tuesday. People will vote for that, not me, but people that comment on these kinds of stories in media outlets.
Having a 15 to 17 thousand seat arena that can actually attract major out of town non-sports events seams to be more in line with what the hotel people are wanting, a place for people to gather for events. While those people are here from out of town I am sure they will go to Pike Place Market as something to do while they are here for their event.
As far as WSCTC providing construction jobs, they are much further away from having an actionable plan than the Key Arena project. If the city had money 6 months ago I think we would see hard hats at Seattle Center today marking up the site for construction.
Something not quite said in David Brewster's story is that unstable timeline of getting a team into Key Arena, and Steve Ballmer paying for the sports effected portion of the renovation, 150 million dollars worth. That is an unknown to them, and I do not think they want the schedule sliding into a window where the WSCTC would want to break ground and have funding for its activity, fair, or fare enough.
What Deputy dog Tim Ceis is telling David Brewster is that they want to use the state money and do the public portion of the renovation even if there isn't an NBA team available right away. That is the hard sell, that isn't the impression they had been giving in public. They had position much of this as just having revenue available if a NBA team could be procured by Steve Ballmer.
The city had a study two years ago that said that Key Arena would need at least 30 million in basic upgrades just to make it a minor league venue without the NBA. That infrastructure and non-sports construction would have to happen no matter what happened with the NBA or state. It looks to me like Ceis and the state are resolving the WSCTC uneasiness with the soft NBA timeline by funding that statement of work, and whatever else they are including (parking garage, or enclosure of the Key footprint?) with the state portion. If this is the case then it does make some sense for the effected WSCTC, and it could infuse the area with construction jobs in a hurry.
This could satisfy WSCTC timeline concerns, stimulate the economy with some jobs right now, and show the NBA that we are going to improve the facility on our own no matter what Ballmer does do. Being able to commit putting an NBA team in Seattle would go much faster if construction was in motion, even if it isn't the sports effected portion of the statement of work.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Crosscut's David Brewster asks - Could a convention center work at Seattle Center?
The answers I have are:
Yes, if they are going to operate the meeting space and arena when Key
Arena is rebuilt.
No.
In either case the city is not going to promote a facility to be placed at Seattle Center ( or anywhere else in the city) while it is actively seeking part of the same revenue stream that the Washington State Convention & Trade Center currently enjoys. It is not going to promote convention space to be added while it is trying to fill its own space. The more likely spot is the "air space" above the King County bus ranch.
The fact is that the Washington State Convention & Trade Center people do not have an actionable plan. They have a want to grow in 3 possible spots with no scope of size (200 to 300 hundred square feet). They do not want to give up the revenue stream when their project is paid off. They have not proposed a cost, which might be hard to do without a real scope of work.
David Brewster has taken another swing at throwing this idea out there. I think that when he says that the "state" is interested he is also talking about Frank Choop.
He also gives Ron Sims' point of view. He did give the reaction from the spokesperson from the Seattle Center, that the city would not support a Seattle Center solution for the WSCTC. The story was sadly lacking in fully explaining the city's point of view.
This is a sandbag, David Brewster is the bagman.
The answer at the end will be that the city plan for Key Arena is defined, does not consume much of the revenue source, and enough revenue from that source would be there if the WSCTC ever got its plan together.
Brewster does mention that the hotel folks were unhappy that several million dollars from this source were dumped into the state's general fund, and that they do not want that to happen again. I think Senate Bill 6638 closed that loophole.
There are 30 million reasons the city is not ready to "finally let Key Arena go".
BTW, Ron Sims, mind your own backyard. You have been no help to me.
www.GoForItLarry.com
Yes, if they are going to operate the meeting space and arena when Key
Arena is rebuilt.
No.
In either case the city is not going to promote a facility to be placed at Seattle Center ( or anywhere else in the city) while it is actively seeking part of the same revenue stream that the Washington State Convention & Trade Center currently enjoys. It is not going to promote convention space to be added while it is trying to fill its own space. The more likely spot is the "air space" above the King County bus ranch.
The fact is that the Washington State Convention & Trade Center people do not have an actionable plan. They have a want to grow in 3 possible spots with no scope of size (200 to 300 hundred square feet). They do not want to give up the revenue stream when their project is paid off. They have not proposed a cost, which might be hard to do without a real scope of work.
David Brewster has taken another swing at throwing this idea out there. I think that when he says that the "state" is interested he is also talking about Frank Choop.
He also gives Ron Sims' point of view. He did give the reaction from the spokesperson from the Seattle Center, that the city would not support a Seattle Center solution for the WSCTC. The story was sadly lacking in fully explaining the city's point of view.
This is a sandbag, David Brewster is the bagman.
The answer at the end will be that the city plan for Key Arena is defined, does not consume much of the revenue source, and enough revenue from that source would be there if the WSCTC ever got its plan together.
Brewster does mention that the hotel folks were unhappy that several million dollars from this source were dumped into the state's general fund, and that they do not want that to happen again. I think Senate Bill 6638 closed that loophole.
There are 30 million reasons the city is not ready to "finally let Key Arena go".
BTW, Ron Sims, mind your own backyard. You have been no help to me.
www.GoForItLarry.com
Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone
Friday, September 5, 2008
Crosscut Seattle - Our Convention Center has growing pains
The Washington State Convention & Trade Center that currently hovers over Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle is expressing their desire to expand, off-site, to one of three places, one option being Seattle Center.
Remodeling Key Arena would have the same effect and draw an NBA team
back to the market. They are getting in line for the same tax source as Key Arena and the
rest of King County. What should be understood is that there is a recognized need for more
convention space in Seattle.
Building a state of the art arena and convention space would kill two birds with one stone, makes sense, that's why Frank Chopp will fight it.
http://www.crosscut.com/travel/17422/Our+Convention+Center+has+growing+pains/
Remodeling Key Arena would have the same effect and draw an NBA team
back to the market. They are getting in line for the same tax source as Key Arena and the
rest of King County. What should be understood is that there is a recognized need for more
convention space in Seattle.
Building a state of the art arena and convention space would kill two birds with one stone, makes sense, that's why Frank Chopp will fight it.
http://www.crosscut.com/travel/17422/Our+Convention+Center+has+growing+pains/
Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone
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