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March 13, 2007
Nets to Newark? Suites offer more reasons to move
Atlantic Yards Report
Last week, I cited a Crain's Insider report that quoted an insider--from Forest City Ratner?--who suggested that the soon-to-open Prudential Center in Newark, more accessible than the Nets' current home in the Meadowlands, would make a good interim arena as they wait for the Brooklyn arena to be built.
The arena, built for the New Jersey Devils but with room for more tenants, is near a transit hub, academic institutions, and entertainment destinations.
But another reason went unmentioned. The new arena will have much more premium seating--82 suites, according to an article in the Feb. 19-25 Sports Business Journal. By contrast, the relatively antiquated Continental Airlines Arena has only 29 suites.
The Brooklyn arena would have 172 suites, and Forest City Ratner projects that revenue would start at $38 million a year. A stint at the Prudential Center could get them halfway there--and better.
NoLandGrab: How the worship of luxury boxes squares with the lackluster sales of corporate suites nationwide, we don't know. Maybe New York City is an anomaly in this respect, or maybe Ratner is late to the party, and an end of the era of corporate suites will mean another taxpayer bailout of the well connected developer.
Posted by lumi at March 13, 2007 9:10 AM