Renton offers Sonics a home

The Sonics' search for a home has spread from the skyscrapers of Seattle and Bellevue to Renton, a fast-growing suburb eager to shed its blue-collar reputation.

Renton city officials met with Sonics officials twice this month to discuss a new arena at The Landing, a 68-acre urban village planned at the south end of Lake Washington, just off Interstate 405.

The Renton discussions shed further light on the Sonics' effort to scout possible locations in King County, even while trying to reach a deal with Seattle over a possible expansion of KeyArena. A Seattle City Council committee will discuss the KeyArena project today and outline a basic negotiating position for future talks with the team.

The Sonics have no plans to move outside King County under their current owners, so if talks break down with Seattle, they will try to find an arena deal in another nearby city, said Executive Vice President Terry McLaughlin. The team's fan base is centered in the Seattle area.

"Our focus and our effort is to get something done here, and if not KeyArena, somewhere else in the county," McLaughlin said.

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Alex Pietsch, Renton's economic-development administrator, said a major sports facility would serve as a cornerstone for The Landing and "create a tremendous amount of energy and activity in an area we'd like to see revitalized."

Construction is scheduled to start later this year on the first phase of the urban village, with 600,000 square feet of retail and 900 apartments or condos on former Boeing land. An arena would take up the 20-acre second phase of the development, Pietsch said.

The city is paying for $24 million in road and utility improvements near the arena, and the state plans to widen I-405 between Renton and Bellevue. The city is also open to all funding possibilities for a new arena.

"We're going in with eyes wide open," Pietsch said.

McLaughlin said the team has met with area cities outside Seattle, but he would not confirm any besides Bellevue.

Sonics and Bellevue officials met in January and have had discussions with Eastside business leaders about a Bellevue arena for several months. About 20 Eastside business leaders, including developers Kemper Freeman, Bob Wallace and Skip Rowley, are waiting in the wings if the Sonics end talks with Seattle.

The team initiated discussions with Bellevue leaders as early as December, while Renton officials called the team this month to talk about a possible arena in their city. Pietsch and his deputy met with McLaughlin and then with McLaughlin and Sonics President Wally Walker.

Renton, with 57,000 residents and home of the Boeing 737 airplane plant, is on the upswing. In the past 10 years, the population has grown 27 percent and the city's assessed property value has doubled.

With annexations in the next decade, the city could grow to 120,000 people, Pietsch said.

The most likely spot for an arena in Bellevue is the site of the old Safeway distribution center east of I-405, near Bellevue-Redmond Road. The 75-acre site is also close to Highway 520 and Interstate 90 and is part of a 900-acre stretch of aging warehouses and office parks the city wants to redevelop.

The Eastside business leaders said they would like to pay for a Bellevue arena, which would cost an estimated $400 million, with private funds.

The team likes Bellevue's central location, active business community and concentration of season-ticket holders, McLaughlin said. "It all makes the possibility of doing something in Bellevue very attractive," he said.

The Sonics owners are finishing a document listing their requirements for a new arena in King County; it will be available to interested cities and developers.

Besides property of at least 12 acres and seating for 18,000, the team wants to manage the arena and keep all the revenue, as with its proposal for KeyArena expansion.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com