Business owners from across the Valley came to Majerle’s Sports Grill in downtown Phoenix to voice strong support Friday evening for the city of Phoenix’s plan to renovate Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The forum, organized by Downtown Phoenix Inc., marks the end of a week filled with city-led public meetings on the proposed deal, under which the city and the Phoenix Suns would pump $230 million into renovating what Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay called “the oldest arena in the NBA to not be renovated.”
“I would argue without [Talking Stick Resort Arena]… you wouldn’t see the billion dollars of construction under development in downtown Phoenix today,” Mackay said to a crowd of dozens who were nearly universal in their support for the plan.
The deal is being pushed due to an obsolescence clause in the original 1989 contract between the city and the Suns, which states if the Suns determine the arena to be obsolete by July 1, 2019, they can leave ten years before their lease expires in 2022 rather than 2032.
The money used for the renovations, Mackay said, would come from the city’s tourism tax, which is primarily funded by taxes on hotel and rental cars paid for by visitors. The money derived from the tax is known as the Sports Facilities Special Revenue Fund, or SFF.
Of the $230 million, $150 million will come from the city and $80 million from the Suns. The city would pay for infrastructure improvements such as plumbing, while the team would pay for things like beefed-up suites to improve fan experience. The plan also extends the lease for five years to 2037, with an opt-in clause for the Suns to extend it five more to 2042.
Most business owners who commented on the plan or asked questions of Suns and city officials had positive remarks. Many credited downtown Phoenix’s economic boom in recent decades directly to the Sun’s arrival.
Mark Mettes of the Herberger Theater Center said he started working downtown in 1989.
“When we opened in ‘89, this was a much, much different downtown,” Mettes said. “I remember when I was first working here, when it was getting dark we ran out, skipped rehearsals, went out and got our cars moved closer [to Herberger].”
Owner and co-founder of The Churchill, Kell Duncan, whose father was a ball boy for the Suns in the 1980s, asked what the opportunity costs were of using the $150 million for the arena as opposed to other pressing city needs.
“Human capital and infrastructure are often what that money would be diverted to,” Duncan said. “Filling potholes, adding to public transportation, investing in education.”
Duncan said he did not feel strongly either way about the deal but expected it to pass City Council.
Jeff Sherman, chair of the Downtown Voices Coalition, said the group was in support of the deal. Sherman said the biggest factor in the group’s support was worry over what would happen to the building if it was left vacant.
He said the group came to the decision during a raucous City Council meeting last month after which the Council delayed a vote on the deal.
“It seemed pretty clear the deal was going through one way or the other,” Sherman said. “So we kind of made the strategic call that if we were going to support, we were going to make sure that we showed our support for the other interests that are not getting funded in downtown as well which were the arts institutions, historic preservation and our parks.”
City Council members Michael Nowakowski and Debra Stark both made appearances at the forum. Stark received a loud round of applause when she said she would vote in favor of the deal at the city council meeting scheduled for January 23. Nowakowski said he expected the Suns to be a “winning” team next year.
Contact the reporter at dmperle@asu.edu.
Correction January 12: An earlier version of this article said that Phoenix Community Alliance had organized the forum, it has been updated to reflect that Downtown Phoenix Inc. organized it.
