March Madness could set back KeyArena rebuild to 2019 Earlier construction could cost city NCAA tournament games, millions in revenue

Renderings provided by AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties (aka Seattle Partners) show the Seattle Coliseum, the partnership's vision for a renovated KeyArena. Renderings provided by AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties (aka Seattle Partners) show the Seattle Coliseum, the partnership's vision for a renovated KeyArena. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Parnters Photo: Courtesy Seattle Parnters Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close March Madness could set back KeyArena rebuild to 2019 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

Apparent miscommunication regarding the proposed renovation of KeyArena could eventually cost Seattle NCAA basketball tournament games and millions of dollars in revenue -- or postpone any work from starting until at least 2019.

On Tuesday, the former home of the Sonics was announced as one of the host venues for the first and second rounds of the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament. The lower Queen Anne facility has hosted March Madness games three times since 2004, most recently in 2015, when the event brought in roughly $8 million in direct economic impact, according to Ralph Morton, executive director of the Seattle Sports Commission (SSC).

The problem with the 2019 tournament dates is that they might fall in the middle of what could be a lengthy renovation process should the city adopt one of two proposals submitted to Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED) last week.

The plans submitted by Seattle Partners -- a joint venture by Anschutz Entertainment Group and Hudson Pacific Properties -- and the Oak View Group on April 12 were a result of Mayor Ed Murray's request for proposals (RFP), which Murray first announced on Oct. 27, 2016.

Last week, Oak View Group spokesperson Steven Gottlieb, who did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment, told multiple media outlets the renovation could be completed by October 2020, making the arena ready for the 2020-21 NBA and NHL seasons.

That's not what Morton says he was told before submitting the bid to host the NCAA tournament and other events in the coming years.

"We have been told and confirmed that any renovation would not take place until well after the (2019) tournament has taken place. They were targeting dates that came further down the road, and so we were actually quite pleased," Morton said Tuesday. "Everything that we have been told is that construction would not begin until after early 2020."

City officials told seattlepi.com no such assurances were made.

Morton submitted KeyArena's bid to the NCAA on Aug. 12, 2016, months before Murray issued the RFP. But it seems there was little communication between city officials and the SSC, which has a commitment to host other events at the arena in coming years, including the women's Pac-12 basketball tournament.

Neither the OED, nor the SSC, nor the University of Washington -- the designated host school for the 2019 tournament games -- were aware of any contingency plans should construction force events elsewhere.

Morton said discussing an alternate plan is "not a road we're going down with the NCAA or with the Pac-12 and our partners that have commitments to these venues."

The city maintains it's simply too early to know whether or not there will be a scheduling conflict since neither of the KeyArena plans has been adopted.

"We are very excited the NCAA chose Seattle to host March Madness in 2019," Joe Mirabella, director of communications for OED, said Tuesday. "It is too soon to determine if there would be a scheduling conflict with proposed KeyArena redevelopment. City staff are currently reviewing the RFPs and proposed development timelines. The City will continue to update the public as a potential redevelopment of KeyArena proceeds."

Three different panels organized by the city will review the proposals before forwarding their recommendations to Murray. Those recommendations are expected by late June.

While the city evaluates the KeyArena proposals, a competing project headed by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen will wait for the Seattle City Council to once again take up the issue of closing a one-block stretch of Occidental Avenue south of Safeco Field.

That closure -- or "vacation" -- was defeated in a highly charged 5-4 vote last May, but Hansen has since amended his proposal to include no request for public financing and offers millions of dollars to help mitigate the Port of Seattle's concerns about traffic congestion in the area.

When announcing that they had resubmitted their street-vacation petition in February, the Sodo arena group -- which also includes former Sonics executive Wally Walker, department store magnates Erik Nordstrom and Pete Nordstrom, and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson -- trumpeted its ability to move more quickly than a KeyArena proposal in order to build a venue that would attract a potential NBA or NHL expansion franchise.

"Any KeyArena renovation plan will take five to seven years to complete," the Sodo group said in a statement on their Sonics Arena website. "Our plan, on the other hand, can be ready to go quickly with the street vacation. This puts the city in the best position to take advantage of any franchise opportunities."

That might be true if the city decides to honor its commitment to the 2019 NCAA tournament and other events already scheduled to take place at KeyArena, the outcome Morton would like to see.

"The city has a commitment to this event," he said. "We've committed, we've bid on it and we've been awarded it. It also has commitments to other events. There's absolute confidence that that's going to happen."

Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle news. Contact reporter Stephen Cohen at stephencohen@seattlepi.com or @scohenPI.