Arizona Coyotes ownership wants the land to build an arena.
In the its better I say this late than never vain, the mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona David Ortega has blasted the plan of the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes franchise ownership to build an arena-village on a piece of state property located not in his town. Ortega has missed the boat on this one as the land is in Phoenix and its land that the state decided to auction off. He may have a valid point that some infrastructure for an arena-village may have to be built in Scottsdale and that Scottsdale may not have the assets to invest in infrastructure, but Ortega should have complained to state officials that he didn’t think it was such a good idea to build anything on the property and that the state should have held onto the property. Ortega claimed that the arena-village has several “negative repercussions” for his city, and that the project needs to move west away from Scottsdale.
Ortega also claimed the project uses the “same fantasy renderings” originally planned in Tempe, which was rejected by voters in May 2023 and the plan was presented without mention of key issues, including the market demand for a new venue, congested highway access or “questionable arena zoning entitlement.” Ortega did not hold back saying the team’s “rookie developer” is trying to buy land without infrastructure, including water, sewer, and frontage roads. Here is the problem, the land auction is going to happen on June 27th, the state does not have to take the highest bid. The Arizona ownership is making a bid for a piece of the property and that land has been assessed at around $68 million. Ortega has been around the block and has been involved in Scottsdale politics for more than two decades. If Ortega really wants to stop the project, he should sue the state.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega
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