Thursday, April 8, 2010

Glendale Voting Tuesday On Lease Agreement


((HT: Arizona Republic/Sanders))

The City of Glendale plans to release the memoranda of understanding ((MOU)) with Ice Edge Holdings and a group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf late Friday as part of the regularly scheduled council meeting.

The ever-curious public will get four days to read and comment on the agreements. And the HQ is fairly certain the Goldwater Institute will pour over it like nobody's business...

Council members got their first look at the proposals back on Tuesday, and have asked Ice Edge Holdings to make "minor changes" to their terms before resubmitting it. What those "changes" are no one knows as of yet... and this could be what Daryl Jones was alluding to Wednesday with his vocal frustrations toward the City itself as disclosed yesterday by OSG Sports.

"We continue to work with the city, as we have for the past eight months, to find a long-term solution for the Coyotes," said Daryl Jones of Ice Edge.

Here's how News12-KPNX covered the last home game and the idea of Ice Edge pulling out from the bidding process...


Ice Edge, apparently, is not including their Saskatoon gambit as part of the proposal, but if they become owners and they're still hemorrhaging dollars, IEH can resubmit that idea.

Reinsdorf's proposal still wants the tax district, or something similar to it to possibly make up for lost revenue inside the arena. If Reinsdorf became owner and needed that district, he would need to negotiate the boundaries of it and explain how he thinks he's going to make up those dollar amounts with his "tax district."

Such districts require the consent of one-fourth the area's property owners, but Cardinals President Michael Bidwill has opposed a district around University of Phoenix Stadium, which is a neightbor for the hockey arena space.

Reinsdorf also appears to be asking for the "escape clause" that would allow him to sell the team after a period of three to five years.

Yesterday, OSG Sports heard five, but we'll take three to five as just as legitimate.

Here's highlights from last night's Coyotes-Predators game that solidified the Desert Dogs place in the post-season...
((HT: NHL/FS South))


News12's Brahm Resnik adds a few more elements: Some of the people Resnik have talked to have intimated IEH wants to pay their fee in installments- possibly as little as US$40M in year one. Daryl Jones has denied this idea.

John Kaites, Reinsdorf's partner, is also apparently trying to work his connections in the Arizona state legislature to secure some kind of public financing angle. But the legislature only has a few more weeks of work themselves. Reinsdorf is looking to pay in the neighborhood of US$150M through a combination of debt security and the "tax district."

((Phoenix Coyotes pictured, thanks NHLI-Getty Images))

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