A proposal to build a new arena for the Arizona Coyotes hockey team, which will also see the construction of a surrounding 46-acre entertainment district, is set to go before voters in Tempe next month.
The team, which is currently playing at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena, has been in talks with the City of Tempe for some months now to build a facility that would go up just to the west of the city’s downtown core at Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive.
Late last year members of the Tempe City Council unanimously voted to present the project as a referendum to be decided by Tempe voters. As proposed, the arena and entertainment district project is expected to cost around $2.1 billion and will see the building of an arena with a seating capacity of some 16,000.
The entertainment district would feature at least two hotels, as well as a retail center, space for a series of restaurants, and a private medical office campus. The district will also include a practice rink for the Coyotes.
Additional features: 350,000 square feet of Class A office space, and just over 1,600 residential units.
In recent weeks, the team has been pushing for passage of the referendum via a campaign effort officially called Tempe Wins. That effort has noted that what was once a former landfill site will be transformed, if the election proves successful, into a “vibrant 365-day-a-year mixed use entertainment district.”
The Coyotes project has sparked the opposition of several community groups, including the recently-formed Tempe 1st, which is arguing that the project is nothing more than a tax handout for billionaire Alex Meruelo, the owner of the Meruelo Group which, in turn, is the majority owner of the Arizona Coyotes.
The campaign slogan for Tempe 1st: “No New Handouts for Billionaires.”
The election is scheduled for May 16.
By Garry Boulard
