The City of Sacramento is considering the use of eminent
domain to acquire a property necessary to build an arena for the NBA team the
Sacramento Kings. Last week, the Sacramento City Council voted to take part in
negotiations for the purchase of a property which sits on a portion of the site
of the future Kings arena in downtown Sacramento. Currently, a Macy’s menswear
store occupies the piece of land subject to possible acquisition.
According to the City Council meeting agenda, the Kings’
owners, Sacramento Basketball Holdings, LLC, had been working towards a deal to
buy the property, which fell through, and the owners asked the City to step in.
The City’s decision to get involved is incumbent on the owners signing an
agreement which would protect the city’s interests. The full August 13, 2013
City Council meeting agenda can be viewed here.
Eminent domain is usually a process reserved for public
agencies to acquire land for public improvement projects. According to the CBS
affiliate in Sacramento, the arena will be funded by the Kings owners, but
its owner will be the City of Sacramento. This could allow the arena to be
placed in the category of a “public project”. However, the Sacramento Bee reports that property
condemnation for sports arenas is not unusual.
No comments:
Post a Comment