Sonics say Bellevue could be their home

With their proposal for a KeyArena expansion stalling, Sonics officials are looking across Lake Washington for a better deal.

Sonics President Wally Walker and Executive Vice President Terry McLaughlin met Wednesday with Bellevue city officials to tell them the team is talking to city business leaders about building an arena in Bellevue.

McLaughlin confirmed the team has talked to "several business interests" that "have been enthusiastic and supportive of the idea."

Team officials said recently they were looking at possible homes away from KeyArena, but the meeting in Bellevue is the first public confirmation of talks with another city.

One Bellevue business leader said the Sonics are just using the city to put pressure on Seattle.

The team has also been in "preliminary discussions" with other cities looking to land an NBA franchise, McLaughlin said, but he would not identify them or the business interests.

Sonics owners have grown increasingly frustrated with Seattle city officials and state legislators who have so far failed to unite behind a plan to renovate KeyArena and negotiate a more lucrative lease for the team. The NBA Sonics and WNBA Storm franchises, led by Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, say they've lost $58 million since 2001, and they blame the lease, which requires arena revenues to be split with the city.

Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said Seattle remains committed to trying to work out a deal to keep the team at KeyArena. "We think it's the best solution for the Sonics and the region," he said.

As for the Bellevue meeting, "I think they're flirting with each other," Ceis said. "And if Bellevue can come up with $400 million to build them a new arena, more power to them."

Walker and McLaughlin, joined by team consultant Ken Johnson, met with Bellevue City Manager Steve Sarkozy and Deputy City Manager Brad Miyake for about an hour Wednesday afternoon, city officials said. The meeting was a "courtesy call" to notify the city about the team's discussions with business leaders, city spokesman Tim Waters said.

The Sonics have "nothing more than a generic concept of the possibility that an arena might be developed" in the city, McLaughlin said.

Sarkozy declined to comment on a possible Sonics move.

The Sonics owners are trying to win support for a taxpayer-financed $200 million expansion of KeyArena, and they also want a more lucrative lease to replace the current one, which expires in 2010. That deal was negotiated as part of a $76 million arena makeover completed in 1995, and requires the Sonics to split several million dollars a year in arena revenue with the city, which owns the building.

McLaughlin said the team would still work with Seattle to see if a KeyArena deal can be reached. But he said time is running out, given the looming expiration of the team's lease.

Bob Wallace, chief executive officer of Wallace Properties and one of Bellevue's most prominent businessmen, said he has not heard from the Sonics about a new arena in his home city.

But Wallace, a board member of the Public Facilities District, which owns Safeco Field, said the chance of a new arena in Bellevue is "virtually zero" because city leaders are too financially conservative and would never devote significant funds to a private project.

A new arena, with land purchase and construction from the ground up, could cost as much as $500 million, Wallace said. Private developers could not afford to foot the whole bill.

"I'd love to see" the Sonics in Bellevue, Wallace said, but "it's not a credible proposal."

If the finances could be worked out, one potential arena location is the former site of a Safeway distribution center, just east of downtown, city insiders say. The 75-acre property sits near Interstate 405 and Bellevue-Redmond Road and is slated for redevelopment.

This is not the first time the Sonics have talked to Bellevue, which has a booming downtown and has grown into a regional player. In 1987, the team, then owned by Barry Ackerley, worked with the city on a combined convention center-sports arena downtown, but the team pulled out of the talks and eventually reached a new deal with Seattle for the KeyArena makeover.

Wallace said Bellevue city leaders have lingering bitterness about the failed deal, and he thinks the Sonics are just using the city again as "leverage against Seattle" for a new lease.

"It's highly unlikely that [the Sonics] are at all serious," he said.

Kemper Freeman, whose Kemper Development owns Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square, did not return a call placed Wednesday with his spokeswoman.

The team's owners have maintained they want to stay in Seattle, but need to explore other options.

"We're in a situation we've never wanted to be in," said maritime industry executive Stan Barer, who chairs the owners' committee looking at arena options.

"We have a fiduciary duty to our owners to explore every reasonable option," Barer said. "You reach a point where you've got millions of dollars at risk and no place to play. It's like any other business."

The Sonics also may look at cities outside Washington that are looking to lure an NBA franchise. That includes Kansas City, which is building an arena in search of a basketball or hockey team, and Oklahoma City, which temporarily is hosting the New Orleans Hornets.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said Wednesday he had not spoken with Sonics officials and expects the Hornets to play in his city for at least another year.

Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes issued a statement noting her city's disappointment in losing its NBA team, the Kings, to Sacramento 20 years ago. The city expects to open its new $250 million Sprint Center next fall. "Needless to say we would like to have an NBA team as a tenant for our new arena," Barnes said.

However, one national consultant said he found it hard to believe the NBA would give up on the Seattle area, with its relatively wealthy fan base.

"Seattle is a substantially stronger market" than any alternative out there now, said Marc Ganis, who owns Sports Corp., a Chicago-based sports industry consulting firm.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com. Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com