« The Day: The New Signs of the Times | Main | Where do the Nets go from here? »
June 1, 2012
Warriors' owners scout arena ideas in New York
San Francisco Chronicle
by Rusty Simmons
Be afraid, San Francisco. Be very afraid.
This week's visit to New York wasn't just good for [Golden State Warriors' co-owner Joe] Lacob's ego. The lottery trip was also a chance for Lacob and co-owner Peter Guber to tour the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, talk about the renovations at New York City's Madison Square Garden and continue to work on their vision for their own state-of-the-art arena on the San Francisco waterfront.
The Warriors are planning a privately financed arena on Piers 30 and 32, with adjacent retail and restaurant space, to open for the 2017-18 NBA season. The project is expected to cost nearly $1 billion, including construction, refurbishment of the piers and possible bond payments in Oakland.
Here's betting that "privately financed" means that the taxpayers kick in about $700 million of the final total.
They learned quite a bit, and had their opinions, about the New York arenas, too. The Barclays Center is being built on a platform that is triangulated by three busy streets, making traffic and parking a potential mess.
The Warriors could have similar problems, but Lacob said he's hoping to secure more acreage that could be used for parking in San Francisco.
Because building more parking means less traffic? If you build it, they will drive.
[Lacob] even joked with a Nets executive that the Warriors might hire renowned architect Frank Gehry, who originally designed a $1 billion version of the Barclays Center.
Posted by eric at June 1, 2012 9:43 AM