The Minneapolis building is too old.
Attention Minnesota taxpayers. Alex Rodriguez wants your money to help pay for a new arena for his National Basketball Association’s Minnesota Timberwolves franchise. Rodriguez and Marc Lore now have controlling interest in the Timberwolves business as well as the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Minnesota Lynx. “Alex and I said this from the beginning, we’re never moving the team,” Lore said. But never doesn’t always mean never. It appears that Rodriguez and Lore want to build an arena-village with the venue as the centerpiece of a development which would include residential and retail space. Who is paying for the arena-village? That is unclear although Lore has claimed his ownership group is “prepared to fund it privately.”
The Minneapolis arena opened in 1990, a 35-year-old arena is considered antiquated in this day and age. The venue received a $150 million renovation in 2017, $74 million from Minneapolis taxpayers and then owner Glen Taylor paying most of the remaining cost. The Minneapolis Office of Public Service released a statement which read that the city of Minneapolis still has two bond issues outstanding related to it, with about $49.5 million remaining. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is on record saying the city won’t help with arena financing but that does not mean Minneapolis won’t be throwing money into a proposed arena. There are always other ways to give a helping hand to a sports team owner. If the Timberwolves ownership wants to build an arena-village, there are mechanisms that would allow them to keep all the tax money generated within the development or not pay property tax. Instead there is something called PILOT, payments in lieu of taxes, one lump sum payment generally way below market value. There are creative solutions available and very soon someone will have to come up with a creative solution.
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