re: New LSU Arena - More Details Emerge

quote:

---

Nicholson multilane expansion for an extended distance would have to accompany the new arena. That should at least help traffic for all campus events including football.

---

quote:

---

Nicholson multilane expansion for an extended distance would have to accompany the new arena. That should at least help traffic for all campus events including football.


Add 30 years to project duration.

---

quote:

---

Last June, LSU hosted six developers and design teams from around the country. Officials took them on facilities tours and discussed a new arena, seeking feedback as the school determines the future of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU has long considered renovations to the aging PMAC, but early last year officials began to pursue a new stadium capable of hosting concerts and other events that have bypassed Baton Rouge. Some involved wondered if the city could support the project until some of the developers who visited expressed interest in a partnership.

---

quote:

---

While the location and other details have not been finalized, Zinn said, the on-campus arena would cost an estimated $350-400 million in private funds and potentially hold a maximum of 13,000 seats. The arena would open in five years — possibly sooner — and the developer would cover the cost in exchange for building ownership and revenue from non-LSU sports events. LSU has narrowed the initial list of developers to two semifinalists.

Whether or not the plan moves forward hinges on approval of an ordinance the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council is scheduled to consider Wednesday. Facilities owned by the city-parish, mainly the Raising Cane’s River Center arena, would be prevented for 30 years from hosting both live performances with more than 3,500 attendees and professional sports with more than 8,500 fans unless it receives permission.

---

quote:

---

Two months before they hosted the developers, a group of LSU officials went to Austin, Texas, to see the Moody Center.

The University of Texas at Austin and the Oak View Group, a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Denver, formed a partnership in 2018 to build the on-campus arena. It opened four years later and hosted 139 acts within the first 20 months.

A versatile arena seats 15,000-plus at its maximum capacity, but it can be condensed to 10,763 for Texas men’s and women’s basketball. The San Antonio Spurs have two games this week at the Moody Center. Tim McGraw, Lauren Daigle, Madonna, Bad Bunny and others scheduled concert dates this spring. Multiple comedians, a lecture tour and Monster Jam will also pass through.

---

quote:

---

LSU’s scouting party wanted to tour the arena and understand how it was paid for. The venue, which sits on land owned by the school, cost $375 million in private funding. In exchange for naming rights, the Moody Foundation donated a $130 million grant. The Oak View Group retains most of the income from non-Texas events for at least 35 years.

---

quote:

---

Deciding to pursue a new arena meant pivoting away from the PMAC, which opened in 1971. Potential renovations have been discussed for years as the building aged. As recently as summer 2022, an architectural and design company was conducting a study on the stadium and helping chart a master construction plan for the athletic department.

Zinn said renovations on the PMAC would have cost “well north of $200 million.” LSU wanted to expand the footprint, which would have required moving the track for an additional $96 million. LSU later considered moving the track to build the new arena in the same place, but it scrapped the idea.

---

quote:

---

Landry, who was hired by the Tiger Athletic Foundation to devise a financial plan for the potential renovations, looked at new market tax credits and historic tax credits for funding.

“It still became readily obvious there wasn’t enough revenue stream to improve the PMAC,” Landry said. “The biggest hole in the financial equation was the use of the facility for entertainment and events as it was from its initial construction through about the mid-80s.”

Even with improvements, Zinn and Landry said, the structure could not host modern concerts, which can require as much as 20 tons of equipment to hang from the ceiling. The scoreboard over center court also would impede the view of a stage from some seats. And without those concerts and other events, there would not be an additional revenue stream.

---

quote:

---

If LSU gets approval to move forward on a new arena, Zinn said the PMAC would be renovated but at a lesser cost. Rather than updating the stadium to maintain its current role, construction would focus on building offices, strength and conditioning areas and practice space.

---

quote:

---

In August 2023, a feasibility study about the River Center’s arena found its approximate capacity of 7,200 for concerts fell below the median capacity of 9,400, making it difficult to attract top acts.

Wayne Hodes, general manager of the River Center, said potential renovations to the entire complex could cost an estimated $120-150 million. The study presented multiple scenarios for the 47-year-old complex's future.

How the River Center functions would change with a new arena at LSU. Developers don’t want larger acts split between two venues because it would reduce potential revenue. The River Center could become a space catered toward conventions with a new headquarter hotel.

---

quote:

---

53. 24-00227 An ordinance acknowledging and recognizing the benefits of the proposed Tiger Athletic Foundation Project to build an LSU Arena, and thereby restricting certain uses by City-Parish owned buildings, including the Raising Cane’s River Center, and authorizing the Mayor-President to identify one or more strategies for developing additional convention capacity and soliciting a developer to develop a convention hotel. By Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, Councilwoman Carolyn R. Coleman, Councilwoman Jen Racca, Councilman Dwight Hudson, Councilman Cleve Dunn, Jr., Councilman Rowdy Gaudet, and Councilman Aaron Moak. Cover Letter Ordinance

---