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Virginia Beach Arena (Cancelled)


vdogg

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Mayor Will Sessoms told WAVY News’ Sports Director Bruce Rader Comcast-Spectator will have a proposal for city council on Tuesday. The company owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/sports/company-to-propose-sports-arena-in-vb

Stay tuned, sounds like this is the real deal.

Pilot has picked it up now. This is bigger than I thought.

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/08/companies-propose-arena-pro-team-virginia-beach

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With the MEAC basketball tournament coming to town, this could be a great thing, esp. since the conference headquarters are in VB. I get that the headline is pro sports, but this has way more potential than just that. Concerts, college b-ball (MEAC, ACC, CAA), conventions, etc.

Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

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With the MEAC basketball tournament coming to town, this could be a great thing, esp. since the conference headquarters are in VB. I get that the headline is pro sports, but this has way more potential than just that. Concerts, college b-ball (MEAC, ACC, CAA), conventions, etc.

Since ODU is joining Conference USA, that would be a more likely option. MEAC might not sell out Scope, so let's wait and see about that.

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I forgot about C-USA, but there's still quite a few CAA schools, including W&M.

And good point about the MEAC...the tourney was in Raleigh and then Winston-Salem for a few years, but attendance was on the rise. I think Norfolk offers a nice enough nightlife, and depending on whatever happens to Waterside, it could compliment Scope well. It really falls on the conference to market the tournament properly.

Norfolk State has a pretty faithful alumni core and fanbase, so a lot of things depend on their performance next year. Hampton's fanbase is decent enough, but the other MEAC schools have to show out as well.

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Virginia Beach is still the wrong place for an arena. Norfolk is the central hub for the region. The arena the Sacramento Kings currently play at is quite a bit away from downtown too which is a reason why the Kings do not succeed. If Mayor Fraim does not jump into this, Norfolk is dumber than I thought.

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I agree with Town Center area, and always thought that the old HQ parking lot or where Bill's Flea Market once sat works best. You gotta expand that service road though, where the post office sits.

If Norfolk, I think the USPS site is a large enough space, but that Brambleton traffic would get messy. I actually think the old Downtown Plaza lot, behind that fire station is a better spot, but it would create just as much traffic, only on St. Paul...

Edited by BFG
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I think it would be great to see VA Beach get an NBA team. It could form a nice rivalry with the Wizards and Bobcats. That being said, I think at least 10 cities with viable arenas (or arena plans) have called on the Kings. I believe this might be more of a move by the Maloofs (Kings owners) to create leverage with somewhere like Seattle or even Sacramento. I do like how they are playing dumb though. We've all seen it before. Where there's smoke there's fire. Something will happen with this franchise in the next 6 months.

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Virginia Beach is still the wrong place for an arena. Norfolk is the central hub for the region. The arena the Sacramento Kings currently play at is quite a bit away from downtown too which is a reason why the Kings do not succeed. If Mayor Fraim does not jump into this, Norfolk is dumber than I thought.

The oceanfront was just rezoned a few months ago to allow much more dense and urban development. Frankly, at this point I wish town center was built at the oceanfront instead of where it is today. We would already be on our way to a greater "downtown" Virginia Beach at the strip.

An arena makes a lot of sense next to the convention center. It already has a slew of parking, highway access, and a decent hotel near by.

Unfortunately, I do think this i just posturing by the Kings owners. I believe they will end up in Seattle, where an NBA venue alreayd exists. I do HOPE like crazy though this could be the turning point and we finally get a professional team though!

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And right on cue, the typical naysayers on Pilot's website are coming in with their crying and off-base statements. The typical "It'll never work/No one will ever support it" crap, which really means "I won't support, it so obviously no one else will!" Never mind the fact that supporting the Tides or Admirals is really an apples-to-oranges argument, as there's a bit of a difference between rooting against the Hershey Bears and the Philadelphia 76ers or whoever comes to town. There's an article about the Sharx indoor soccer team folding, and people are already pointing fingers to say "See I told you so! Nyah!" Ugh...there's 3 million people between Hampton Roads and Richmond. I think you can get enough basketball fans for a Big-4 team or college tournament.

I really wonder if anyone who comments on that site understands that a metropolitan has to take chances like this, same way Norfolk did with the Tide. I get that the economy is still sluggish, but an arena's revenue can still offset expenses without an NBA or NHL team. Just look at Sprint Center in Kansas City.

But hey, they said the Tide work either, right along with ODU football or the Destroyers. If the latter falls off by the wayside, it's only because of the UFL's incompetence.

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Just to throw this into the conversation...

If you guys remeber the Pembroke Area master plan, they show an arena plan for the Western Campus or something like that at Witchduck between Va Beach Bvld and South Blvd. across from the Renaissance Center.

If there as the master plan shows ,it could begin to transform that area from it's industrial history to the sports/educations center they have planned and begin to pull urbnaization down the blvd as the plan seems to want.

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I've had a few places in mind, but honestly, I think the Harbor Park area on the old Boathouse site makes the most sense. You have it at an established LRT station, and at the future high-speed rail hub. You get traffic from throughout Norfolk and the Richmond area.

The Pilot says the arena will cost between 275-400M, on top of about 3/4-billion for LRT to VB (if approved of course). I'm in favor of a new arena in general so HR can finally get some bigger indoor concerts and maybe some more college basketball tournaments, I just think Harbor Park is the best area, with year-round nightlife. Regardless, I support VB in their efforts, esp. if it helps bring this region together.

Edited by BFG
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I can see VB scoring a pro team if they choose to be more aggressive about getting one than Norfolk has been, but if VB built an arena I would want to see it at Pembroke where it could be built apart of an entertainment district. An arena like this could easily stimulate that area and increase the chances for new apartments and office buildings as well as a collection of smaller urban buildings for bars, restuarants, clubs, and such.

I think if they build this by the convention center, there will be a missed opportunity for Pembroke.

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I can see VB scoring a pro team if they choose to be more aggressive about getting one than Norfolk has been, but if VB built an arena I would want to see it at Pembroke where it could be built apart of an entertainment district. An arena like this could easily stimulate that area and increase the chances for new apartments and office buildings as well as a collection of smaller urban buildings for bars, restuarants, clubs, and such.

I think if they build this by the convention center, there will be a missed opportunity for Pembroke.

It looks like they're banking on this helping the Oceanfront, since that's the city's trademark. Unlike Miami, we don't have that kind of climate, so the beach only serves that purpose 4-5 months out the year. Town Center has a year-round advantage, and there's so much room for growth to build the "downtown" VB wants so badly. Like I said earlier, you butt heads with that convention center. Move it to TC and you can have trade shows there, and even hold them the same weekend as one at the Convention Center.

As for the aggressiveness, I agree, but Norfolk's issue was they tried to get regional support, but not too many cities hopped on board. I'm more concerned VB won't even extend an offer, and instead try to make this all about them. Would love to be proven wrong on that one...it's the only way this will work.

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Cant wait to see the proposal that comes out of Tuesdays meeting with the Virginia Beach City Council and Comcast.

I only wonder if the city can take on that much debt with Light Rail and the Sports Arena at one time. The easiest way to finance all of this is just raise the hotel tax in Virginia Beach or tack on a airport fee like Oklahoma City did to finance its Sports Arena. Of course all of South Hampton Roads will have to agree with the airport fee.

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Cant wait to see the proposal that comes out of Tuesdays meeting with the Virginia Beach City Council and Comcast.

I only wonder if the city can take on that much debt with Light Rail and the Sports Arena at one time. The easiest way to finance all of this is just raise the hotel tax in Virginia Beach or tack on a airport fee like Oklahoma City did to finance its Sports Arena. Of course all of South Hampton Roads will have to agree with the airport fee.

They proposed a $1 hotel tax for out-of-towners, but I could see a small airport or rental car/hospitality tax as well...that's how a lot of cities do when they propose a new arena. I believe Sessoms made it clear they don't want the public paying for this. I'm guessing the council and Comcast have talked a little about this.

Ever since that Drakkar America company pitched an arena last year (I wonder how much that had to do with this), I've been following the idea of a new arena quite closely, so this thread is a pretty big deal to me (hence my constant responses! ;))

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Virginia Beach is still the wrong place for an arena. Norfolk is the central hub for the region. The arena the Sacramento Kings currently play at is quite a bit away from downtown too which is a reason why the Kings do not succeed. If Mayor Fraim does not jump into this, Norfolk is dumber than I thought.

I agree with you that Norfolk is the central hub for the region. The only reason their is 7 cities in Hampton Roads is because all the counties back then were paranoid of being annexed.

I think the reason for Comcast and Live Nation wanting the Arena at the beach is for mainly summer concerts. You will have people walking from the oceanfront to the Arena for the concert then walking back to the beach and enjoying themselves.

Unfortunately I think Comcast and Live Nation could care less what the NBA or NHL team attendance record is for the Arena. The franchise will be paying the same lease to Comcast regardless if the franchise is making money or not. So mainly the arena is coming to the beach because of the huge untapped concert market in Hampton Roads.

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Well you can count Bill Desteph and John Moss out as always :rolleyes: . I must say that John Moss has quite a prickly demeanor. Wasn't a fan of his before and I must say my opinion has been reinforced. As for the deal, the prelims look nice but there won't be any meat to the proposal until October when the formal one is submitted. This is conveniently one month before the election and you can expect both opponents and proponents to try and tie this to light rail.

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Yeah, Moss is a tea-party poster grump. He hates everything!

The presentation was well-prepared for such a short notice. I really like the players in this proposal. The time is now for the city of Virginia Beach while everyone seems to be onboard with the idea. If they wait, it will be another 20 years and cost $150 million more to build.

If we can somehow land this deal, I can see us landing a professional sports team within 5 years and perhaps becoming the new home of the ACC tournament. The arena has to be expandable to 20,000-25,000 for basketball but it would be a true neutral location and centrally located both north and south. I can easily see the need for a couple more new hotels and the players and fans would love the new location and entertainment venues.

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