Group headed by Tim Leiweke interested in KeyArena renovation for NBA, NHL

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Group headed by Tim Leiweke interested in KeyArena renovation for NBA, NHL

Originally published October 27, 2016 at 11:29 am Updated October 27, 2016 at 8:38 pm

A City Hall source has confirmed that the Los Angeles-based Oak View Group, founded in a partnership between Leiweike and entertainment mega-manager Irving Azoff, is interested in developing KeyArena into a multipurpose facility that could handle NBA or NHL teams.

A powerful, new Los Angeles-based company headed by sports executive Tim Leiweke and concert kingpin Irving Azoff wants to renovate KeyArena and make it compatible for NBA and NHL use.

“We believe in the KeyArena location,” Leiweke, CEO of the 11-month-old Oak View Group, told The Seattle Times in an interview Thursday night. “We believe that the studies have proven — and we will continue to do additional studies as we go through this process — that there is a chance to renovate and make that arena work for music and sports.

“And the economics are such that if the right private-public partnership can be established, that it will stand alone on its own two feet without the rest of the land around it having to be developed.’’

Mayor Ed Murray confirmed late Thursday an earlier Seattle Times report that the Oak View Group has expressed interest in the 54-year-old former home of the NBA’s Sonics.

Murray also confirmed that Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), a major arena builder and manager that handles marketing for Key­Arena, is interested in a renovation.

Murray said in a statement that the city will issue a Request for Proposals in January.