Katz announces additional $100 million for downtown arena district

The elusive owner of the Edmonton Oilers showed up in the flesh at City Hall on Wednesday to be part of a discussion between the Katz Group and council on a proposed downtown arena.

Daryl Katz personally addressed council at the meeting, thanking it for taking the time to hear his "bold vision" for a downtown entertainment complex.

He reiterated his promise to put $100 million into the development of a new downtown arena, and announced that he would be willing to invest an additional $100 million which would be used to develop the commercial area surrounding the building.

Katz also promised to sign a location agreement to keep the Oilers in Edmonton if the arena goes ahead. It would be owned by the city, with the Katz Group signing a lease on the building.

As for funding that would come from the city, the possibility of raising taxes to cover funding the arena was brought up, as well as a $5 ticket surcharge on tickets sold at the new facility. A licence fee could also be imposed on luxury suites to help cover the costs.

The Katz Group stressed the need for a partnership in the funding model, because three out of four privately built sports facilities in our country have failed in recent years.

Representitives from AEG, an international arena management group, spoke about the success they have had in major cities throughout the world. They claimed that the new features that would be added to the downtown core would complement facilities that already exist in the city, such as the LRT.

The Edmonton Oilers will not play in a renovated Rexall Place, insists Katz. He claims if that were to happen, the funding would have to come solely out of the pockets of taxpayers, while a new arena would see joint funding. The Katz Group also stressed the urgency of having a new arena completed by the start of the hockey season in 2014 when the Oilers' current lease with Rexall Place expires.