Ralston is moving ahead with plans for a 3,500-seat sports and entertainment arena at the site of the former Lakeview Golf Course, northwest of 72nd and Q Streets.
And Tuesday officials are likely to announce a tenant for the new facility when it opens in the fall of 2012.
A 10 a.m. press conference will feature Ralston Mayor Don Groesser and Omaha Lancers President Ben Robert. Neither would comment ahead of the Tuesday event.
The city reportedly has been in talks for several months with Robert about bringing the semiprofessional hockey team to the proposed arena.
The Lancers, of the United States Hockey League, moved to the Omaha Civic Auditorium this season, signing a one-year lease with options for two one-year extensions.
Last week, the Ralston City Council authorized Groesser to begin issuing $4.5 million in bonds to purchase a parcel of the 34-acre Lakeview property from CFM Realty, the current owner, which has been working to grade and prepare the site for its new designation as commercially zoned property.
The city also will use the money to lease the remainder of the land and put money toward fees dealing with the preliminary construction phases of the project, including engineering and architectural costs.
“This is the start of a new, historic chapter in Ralston,” Groesser said after the council action. “This is the start of a great project.”
The 3,500-seat arena is to feature two sheets of ice, 16,000 square feet of retail space and a price tag of $22 million to $25 million. The bulk of the cost could be paid for using the turnback tax mechanism approved by the 2010 Legislature. The mechanism allows an arena project to capture the additional sales taxes generated in the vicinity to pay off the building costs. A vote of Ralston citizens would be necessary before proceeding.
Ralston returned to its initial plan on the scope for the project earlier this month after determining that a 2,750-seat multiuse community center and ice complex, completed in two phases, would not stand up to the bonding requirements.
“We've discovered that the bonds on what we wanted to do with the 2,750-seat facility would just not be salable at $12 million,” said Mayor Groesser. “We looked at every possible angle. Then we came back to the original idea, and it's one we think we can make work.”
The city hopes a Menards home improvement store will be built north of the arena site. That would allow the city to capture 70 percent of the store's sales tax to help retire the debt on the arena.
If Menards does not build at the site, Groesser said, there is another funding option. He said sales tax income from a proposed hotel near the venue, from the retail facilities inside the arena and from increased revenue at businesses within a 600-yard radius of the site could get the city close to being able to pay for the project with what the mayor called a minimal taxpayer burden.
Ticket sales and other ancillary sources of revenue, including naming rights and box and suite leases, also would factor into paying down the debt.
“Obviously, we would love for Menards to build,” Groesser said. “But if Menards builds or doesn't build, we think we can still get a lot of revenue — from the hotel, the restaurants that will be around there — without putting undue burdens on our citizens.”
With 3,500 seats, Groesser said, the facility could be used for a number of other sports besides hockey and would make a nice midsize concert arena for the area.
Ralston also has revised its schedule for the project. Under the new timetable, the arena would open in the fall of 2012, a year later than once anticipated. That would mean the project would come to a vote of Ralston residents in March 2011.
“I think it was an aggressive schedule, and that was something we realized early on,” Groesser said. “I'm more comfortable with what we're doing now. This really is all about getting the right facility for Ralston, getting the approval of the people and, hopefully, moving forward.”
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