The mayor hopes to wrap up the arena negotiations this summer.
It appears that the National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver has one less arena problem that needs his lobbying expertise. In Memphis, Mayor Paul Young thinks an agreement to renovate the city’s arena which is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies franchise, will be reached by the end of the summer and that the $550 million needed to modernize the facility will be available. However, that $550 million price tag may be going up due to American tariffs on steel. “We’re working toward getting to an agreement on the principals that go in a lease by the end of the summer,” Young stated.
Young said that there was a multi-layer approach in the lease process. “Getting the dollar amount was certainly the first hurdle that we wanted to overcome, making sure that we have all of the dollars to actually execute the project. Then it was a matter of really working through what the lease is actually going to look like and what the terms are going to look like, and our attorneys are continuing to work hard at getting all of those parameters in place.” The Grizzlies ownership deal with the city of Memphis ends in 2029, so time is becoming a factor in the negotiations. Part of the $550 million in funding could come from an increase to the Shelby County hotel-motel tax after the Tennessee legislature approved a bill in 2024 that will allow the county to increase it. There is no word on how much money that the Grizzlies’ ownership might kick into the renovation cost. In 2000, Vancouver Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley decided to look for a new home for his business and kicked the tires in six cities, Las Vegas, Anaheim, St. Louis, New Orleans, Louisville and Memphis. Heisley choose Memphis. The Memphis arena opened in 2004 and is considered outdated.
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Mayor Paul Young
