Sonics hire team to study sites for arena

The new Sonics owners are hiring a team of bankers and construction consultants to create a list of potential sites for a multiuse arena in the Seattle area, a spokesman said Thursday.

The study team, made up of local and national consultants, should be announced in the next couple weeks, said Jim Kneeland, a Seattle public-affairs specialist hired as a local liaison for the new owners. The owners plan to release their business plan and a preferred site by December or possibly earlier, he said.

Lead owner Clay Bennett this week made his fourth visit to Seattle since the sale of the professional basketball franchise was announced, exchanging ideas over breakfast with King County Executive Ron Sims, sitting down with Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman and comparing notes with Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke.

Bennett's conversations with local leaders have been conceptual so far, with no preferred site or financing details chosen, Kneeland said.

"Clayton has just been receiving ideas from people at this point," Kneeland said. Once announced, the new team of consultants "is going to go out and aggressively search for options."

Potential sites could pop up anywhere, Kneeland said, though Bennett has been limited in his meetings so far.

"Clearly, most of the action has been focused on Seattle and Bellevue, but there may be other sites that they just have to identify," Kneeland said.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels wants the team to stay at KeyArena, and he had lunch with Bennett during a visit earlier this month.

"We just think the Key still makes sense," Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said Thursday.

Bennett also has met with Bellevue city officials and had several conversations with Freeman, who has been impressed with the Oklahoma City businessman's commitment to the Seattle area.

"I feel like I've known this guy for 20 years," Freeman said. "I feel really good about what he's thinking, what he's saying, what he's going to do."

Bellevue would appear to be a leading contender for a new arena. The city has a 900-acre stretch of aging warehouses and office parks slated for redevelopment near Interstate 405 and Bellevue-Redmond Road.

The area includes at least one potential site: the old Safeway distribution center that sits on 75 acres near three freeways.

Bennett has said the current KeyArena does not fit his vision of a "world-class" entertainment complex that could host professional hockey and other events. But he is serious about figuring out whether a new arena could be built at Seattle Center, Kneeland said.

Freeman and Bennett agree a new arena must be a busy, multiuse facility with exhibition space, concerts and retail.

Freeman, who owns Bellevue and Lincoln squares, said it is probably too late for an arena deal to be hatched between the new owners and Seattle. "The Bellevue thing is becoming more of a reality every day."

Ceis said Seattle is not competing with other cities to keep the team. "The only person whose opinion matters in this situation is Mr. Bennett's."

Kneeland, the new owners' liaison, said Freeman is a "great booster" for Bellevue, but "it's just really too soon to say it [the arena] is headed in one direction or another."

The city of Renton, which had offered a 68-acre urban village as an arena site, appears to be taking a back seat. The new Sonics owners have not talked to the city, and the developers of the urban village, called The Landing, have pulled themselves out of the running for a new arena.

Renton officials still have a couple of potential sites they'd like to show, but "we're realistic about our position as a longshot," Alex Pietsch, the city's head of economic development, said in an e-mail message.

Bennett attended the Storm playoff game in Seattle last Friday, sitting in a luxury suite with his family. After flying back to Oklahoma for the weekend, he returned to meet with Seattle-area officials Monday and Tuesday.

He toured Qwest Field with Leiweke and had breakfast at Hotel Monaco with Sims and King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer. Bennett also met with Seattle City Councilman David Della.

In a visit earlier this month, Bennett met with Gov. Christine Gregoire and University of Washington Athletic Director Todd Turner and toured Safeco Field with Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln and team president Chuck Armstrong.

Von Reichbauer said he hopes local leaders will realize Bennett is expending the energy to keep the team here. "We need to get past where he's from and get to where he's going."

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