Chris Hansen-Seattle City Council Reach Agreement

The Seattle Times reports that the Seattle City Council has come to an agreement with Chris Hansen to build a basketball-hockey arena in the Soda area in hopes of bringing the NBA back to Seattle. According to the Times, the terms of the deal will be announced today.   It did say that the deal calls for Hansen to help fund road improvements to ease possible overcrowded streets, a concern of the Port Of Seattle.   The Hansen group also hopes the arena would allow an NHL team to relocate here.

Proposed Arena Clears First Hurdle

The King County Council, in a 6-3 vote, has approved a binding "memorandum of understanding" to a proposal by Bay area financier Chris Hansen to build an indoor facility in the event that an NBA team be available to move in.   The proposal will now go to the Seattle City Council which will undoubtedly be a much harder sell. The Seattle PI reports that the City Council would like more taxpayer protection as well as request that Hansen's group relinquish some of their profits to help build more roads to ease congestion around the area.