The last time the Arizona Coyotes thought they had it made in the shade for a new arena, it came down to a public vote, which the Coyotes were in search of purchasing land in Tempe, Arizona, for a new arena and entertainment district.
The Coyotes sent the decision to public vote, with the hope of through proper advertisement, that the City of Tempe and its residents would vote to overturn land currently in use as a landfill in the middle of Tempe that would be funded privately, by Alex Meruelo and the Coyotes, in an effort to clean up and build a 650,000 square foot arena, set to seat an NHL median 16,000 fans, as well as 316,000 square feet of retail space, land for a hotel, music venue, practice facility, and organization headquarters, along with just shy of 2,000 multi-family residential housing units.
MOMENTUM MAULED
In a public vote, the residents of the City of Tempe had a say on propositions 201, 202 and 203, which 56% of the vote was a no across all three propositions.
In a $50.3 million investment in the city of Tempe, the residents of Tempe faced no added tax hikes other than an on-property tax that would be paid on purchases made on the land.
NEW HORIZONS
Currently, the land eyed by the Coyotes, set to be a part of a public auction with no date established, is along the Arizona Loop 101 near Scottsdale Road, next to residential land across from the Mayo Clinic and near the Desert Ridge Marketplace.
Renderings show a similar layout to that which was proposed in Tempe… an arena, marketplace and practice facility.
Inside renderings show a large overhead scoreboard and a full surround lower bowl, an upper bowl around three-quarters of the arena with an apparent standing-room-only area at the end of the rink where the upper bowl doesn’t completely wrap.
The auction is trackable at https://land.az.gov/reports-notices, and assigned case number 53-124365.
The Coyotes appear to be set to stay in Mullett Arena, and NHL General Manager and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued no deadline on a relocation decision.
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