Cleveland Cavaliers withdraw funding commitment for Quicken Loans Arena renovation
August 29, 2017
The Cleveland Cavaliers today announced the cancellation of their participation in the transformation project of the publicly-owned Quicken Loans Arena.
Construction on the £107 ($140) million publicly-owned facility project was due to start in June but had been delayed due to a prospective referendum being placed on the ballot by the Washington, DC-based Metro Industrial Areas Foundation.
The prospective referendum will cause the arena transformation to miss the current construction cycle, which pushes the overall price tag of the project higher due to rising construction costs.
The public-private partnership was to be funded with £77 ($70) million of private capital contributed by the Cavaliers organization and an additional (£77) $70 million in public funding was to be generated primarily by a portion of the existing Admission Tax of every ticket sold to every event at ‘The Q’ from 2023-2034.
Our 2017-18 schedule is here!
TAKE A PEEK: https://t.co/ogn1f81DAV#AllForOne pic.twitter.com/TXBCi8peY2
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) August 14, 2017
The Cavaliers had also committed to covering any and all construction cost overruns on the project.
“Quicken Loans Arena brings over 2 million people a year to downtown Cleveland and last year alone produced £188 ($245) million in economic activity including the RNC and the NBA Finals,” said Len Komoroski, CEO of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“This facility is Cleveland’s gateway to the world as many of our events are broadcast nationally and internationally. The investments over the years into The Q have paid back multiples in economic impact, job creation and tax generation.”
The Q is the oldest arena in the NBA without a major structural renovation.
The renovation project would have extended the life of The Q to over 40 years when the average life of similar facilities is only 22 years in the NBA.
“It is very disappointing to see our further private investment into The Q Transformation project reach this ending point,” Komoroski added.
