The Texas Longhorns and athletic director Steve Patterson are close to purchasing the Austin American-Statesman site to build the replacement for the Erwin Center, real estate sources told a former Statesman reporter:

.@michaelcorcoran, still a fine reporter, hears new @utaustin basketball arena will be on current @statesman site pic.twitter.com/JGv0XL7yAx — Evan Smith (@evanasmith) February 21, 2015

Unsurprisingly, school officials denied the report:

#UT officials deny social media reports that the university has decided to buy Statesman site for basketball arena. — Ralph Haurwitz (@ralphhaurwitz) February 21, 2015

As the Statesman struggles financially with the constriction of the newspaper industry, the current location looks ripe for purchase and further development, situated as it is on south bank of the river just off Congress Avenue.

And Texas needs a site for a new basketball arena since construction of the Dell Medical School will result in the Erwin Center's demolition within the next six to eight years.

However, the Statesman site would be expensive, which could explain why Patterson quoted a figure of $500 million when asked about the cost of a new arena. Patterson also wants city funding and the new mayor is at least amenable to having that discussion.

The obvious downside to the downtown location is the lack of proximity to campus, a fact that could impact student attendance. But from the perspective of Patterson and the university, there may not be any more appealing options on campus or close to campus with limited available land in that part of the city.

[Monday update]: Some clarification from Corcoran on Facebook: