Anne Ryman, Mary Jo Pitzl, and Jessica Boehm

The Republic | azcentral.com

A plan to build a new home for the Arizona Coyotes in Tempe is dead.

Arizona State University said in an email Friday evening that the university "has no intention of proceeding to sign a development agreement or an option to lease or any other agreement with the Coyotes."

ASU's master developer, Catellus Development Corp., had negotiated with the Coyotes since November on a development plan that would have included ice rinks for the Coyotes and Sun Devil Athletics.

ASU did not say in its statement why it was ending negotiations.

But legislation recently introduced at the Capitol to create a funding mechanism to build the ice rinks quickly drew opposition.

Arizona Coyotes' arena conflict with Glendale

On Friday evening, Coyotes President and CEO Anthony LeBlanc said in a statement that, "Unfortunately, it appears the ASU deal will not being moving forward."

"We will continue to explore other options that will ensure a successful future for the team and our fans. We're a determined bunch — on the ice and off the ice. We intend to do everything we can to keep NHL hockey here in Arizona," he said.

The Coyotes currently play at Gila River Arena in Glendale. But LeBlanc has openly professed his desire to leave the West Valley city, where taxpayers still owe nearly $150 million for the arena that opened in 2003.

Conflict between the Coyotes and Glendale erupted in 2015 after the city terminated the team's $15 million arena-management agreement and later hired a new, independent company to run the arena on the city's behalf.

Legislation introduced this week by Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, would have created a 28-acre "community engagement district" with ice rinks for the Coyotes, as well as ASU's hockey teams, within the confines of ASU's Athletic Facilities District.

The facilities district covers 330 acres south of Tempe Town Lake that ASU is working to transform into an athletic, commercial and residential district.

Worsley said he agreed to sponsor the legislation, Senate Bill 1474, to keep the Coyotes from leaving the state, and because the financing portion of the deal would not sap the state's general fund.

That plan contemplated ASU providing land for the project. The Coyotes would have contributed $170 million in cash, as well as $65 million in private financing. And Tempe would have provided $90 million from a capital bond.

Bill will move ahead

On Friday evening, Worsley said he was disappointed the Tempe arena plans won't go forward.

He said his legislation will continue but will be amended because the bill was tailored for a Tempe location.

"There will be something to help the Coyotes," Worsley said. "And it will be a little more location-agnostic."

The Coyotes' current lease allows them to continue playing at Gila River Arena through the 2017-2018 season.

When the Coyotes announced their intention to relocate to Tempe in November, Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps told The Arizona Republic that the city would operate as if Gila River Arena will house the Coyotes long-term, noting that "new arenas are very expensive to construct."

Worsley said, "Unfortunately this got caught up in the politics of the moment."

His bill relies on a controversial financial mechanism. It would create a special district with half the sales tax generated from operations within its borders paying part of the construction costs.

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Worsley is pushing the legislation at the same time that Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona Board of Regents are promoting a proposal to let the universities keep their sales tax and pour it back into research facilities and repairs.

There was some concern in political circles that the two plans would merge. Worsley said there is no connection between them.

"The two cannot be connected, and there is no desire to conflate the two," he said of the financing arrangements.

Additionally, opposition was growing in the Arizona Legislature to Worsley's bill.

Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, had called a Monday news conference at the Capitol with West Valley leaders to oppose the plan.

Ninety minutes before ASU said the plan was dead on Friday, the Coyote's LeBlanc was promoting the merits of the legislation.

He said that passage of Worsley's bill would "secure the future of hockey in Arizona." He also noted that the team is "ready to invest more than $170 million in a new arena."

LeBlanc said the project would "pay for itself" and would not require "a single penny of existing revenue from the state or any city’s general fund."