Ressler wants a new arena.

[atlhawks1]

That's because they built a 20,000-seat arena on a footprint that was already tight when a 16,000-seat arena once stood there. And we've already heard chirps about the practice facility not being up to snuff, too?

Put Philips on the demo team's calendar, alongside Turner Field, the Georgia Dome, Panthersville, and the GSU Sports Arena (totally agree with Nathan regarding the latter two biting the big one after the Braves leave. You don't invest the kind of $$$ they did to add a few seats here and a scoreboard there; they probably have 360 or HOK on retainer as we speak...

 

 

When the Falcons wanted a new stadium, i always said the old General Motors plant up at sphagetti junction was the PERFECT location. Got transportation right there and a huge footprint. Too bad Doraville is on some highly political stuff.

 

The Hawks are in the same situation. Tear down Phillips, let the Falcons build there ( parking, extra team facilties, whatever) or Georgia State, then, build the Hawks a new arena over in Atlantic Station or up on Georgia 400. They DO need room to expand.  Let them move to a bigger location.

Edited June 25, 2015 by atlhawks1

[Dejay]

The folks in Doraville really dropped the ball on that one. That site would've been perfect for the Falcons to fully build out; not just a new stadium but an entire area of land that could make the gameday experience unlike any we've seen in these parts. From the looks of the construction of their new stadium, you will need the Hubble telescope to see action from the upper deck. That area appears to sit much higher off the ground than the Georgia Dome's upper deck.

[HawkItus]

When the Falcons wanted a new stadium, i always said the old General Motors plant up at sphagetti junction was the PERFECT location. Got transportation right there and a huge footprint. Too bad Doraville is on some highly political stuff.

 

The Hawks are in the same situation. Tear down Phillips, let the Falcons build there ( parking, extra team facilties, whatever) or Georgia State, then, build the Hawks a new arena over in Atlantic Station or up on Georgia 400. They DO need room to expand.  Let them move to a bigger location.

Umm.......I work at Atlantic Station.....where exactly are you proposing they build?  This space is full and GA tech is filling in the last corners.

[BigDog90]

I'm surprised. I figured the Hank Aaron group was the one who wanted a new arena. Phillips Arena is nice but I guess they do need to upgrade it if they want to draw fans and get the All-Star game.

[Johnnybravo4]

Phillips arena is much too big for our purposes (GSU)

[atlhawks1]

Umm.......I work at Atlantic Station.....where exactly are you proposing they build?  This space is full and GA tech is filling in the last corners.

 

I dont know. Is there ANYWHERE in Atlantic Station they can build or near it??

[atlhawks1]

The folks in Doraville really dropped the ball on that one. That site would've been perfect for the Falcons to fully build out; not just a new stadium but an entire area of land that could make the gameday experience unlike any we've seen in these parts. From the looks of the construction of their new stadium, you will need the Hubble telescope to see action from the upper deck. That area appears to sit much higher off the ground than the Georgia Dome's upper deck.

 

Not only did the Doraville site have the space, athestically, it wouldve looked sweet being able to see the new stadium sit right there as you past by it on 285. The location was also perfect for people to get to the stadium. The giant footprint wouldve also allowed the Falcons to do what the Braves are doing, build up AROUND the stadium.

 

As bright as Arthur Blank is suppose to be, why couldnt he see what the Braves did, that building hotels, restaurants, etc. AROUND the stadium, making it that complete experience he always talking about, a reality. Maybe he only looking out for HIMSELF, and thats why he had no vision of building around the new stadium.

 

Another thing that pissed me off with Doraville is them blocking that fella a few years ago who wanted to build a Casino at the General Motors site.  Atlanta could be the next Vegas, but in a good way. Professional sports, casinos, all within walking distance of each other. Dont get any better than that.Casinos are coming to Georgia, and building one up within walking distance of the stadium wouldve been sweet.

Edited June 26, 2015 by atlhawks1

[curtmcgirt]

I've been all over Philips Arena for work. Front and back of house. There is TONS of wasted space there. The workout facilities are smaller than some Snap Fitness locations. The areas that used to house Thrashers equipment, marketing and what not are just dead space now.  They could easily remodel the player facilities and amenities one off season, the concourse the next.

 

That flat area near the back taco mac entrance is a complete waste of space. 

[Dejay]

Not only did the Doraville site have the space, athestically, it wouldve looked sweet being able to see the new stadium sit right there as you past by it on 285. The location was also perfect for people to get to the stadium. The giant footprint wouldve also allowed the Falcons to do what the Braves are doing, build up AROUND the stadium.

As bright as Arthur Blank is suppose to be, why couldnt he see what the Braves did, that building hotels, restaurants, etc. AROUND the stadium, making it that complete experience he always talking about, a reality. Maybe he only looking out for HIMSELF, and thats why he had no vision of building around the new stadium.

Another thing that pissed me off with Doraville is them blocking that fella a few years ago who wanted to build a Casino at the General Motors site. Atlanta could be the next Vegas, but in a good way. Professional sports, casinos, all within walking distance of each other. Dont get any better than that.Casinos are coming to Georgia, and building one up within walking distance of the stadium wouldve been sweet.

The stuff you're talking about required one thing that many civic leaders lack; vision. Most politicians are only concerned with winning the next election and literally doing/saying anything to do so. The folks at Doraville want little/nothing to do with building on that old plant yet will complain endlessly why their tax bills keep going up. Just like folks in Cobb and Gwinnett love to whine about traffic but don't want to put a red cent into any alternate measures other than more roads to attract more cars (wash, rinse, spin, repeat). And you know the anti-gambling lobbyists will be out in full force if gambling ever made it to a referendum in this state. That's all I'll say regarding that to avoid all-out war on this site.

Anyway, if the Doraville folks had moved, the new Falcons stadium would've been up and running by now because Arthur Blank had his eyes on leaving the Dome the instant after that $500+ million check he cut to Taylor Smith cleared his account. He knew from the jump that the Smiths (Rankin Sr. in particular) cut a bad deal with the GWCC, ceding all of the revenue from its luxury boxes and club seats over to them in lieu of paying a $1.00 annual lease. That ended up being a $20M+ mistake PER YEAR since they moved from the old stadium in 1992. Fans wouldn't be getting hit with as much sticker shock as they are right now from those PSLs. But alas...

Edited June 26, 2015 by Dejay

[atlhawks1]

The stuff you're talking about required one thing that many civic leaders lack; vision. Most politicians are only concerned with winning the next election and literally doing/saying anything to do so. The folks at Doraville want little/nothing to do with building on that old plant yet will complain endlessly why their tax bills keep going up. Just like folks in Cobb and Gwinnett love to whine about traffic but don't want to put a red cent into any alternate measures other than more roads to attract more cars (wash, rinse, spin, repeat). And you know the anti-gambling lobbyists will be out in full force if gambling ever made it to a referendum in this state. That's all I'll say regarding that to avoid all-out war on this site.

Anyway, if the Doraville folks had moved, the new Falcons stadium would've been up and running by now because Arthur Blank had his eyes on leaving the Dome the instant after that $500+ million check he cut to Taylor Smith cleared his account. He knew from the jump that the Smiths (Rankin Sr. in particular) cut a bad deal with the GWCC, ceding all of the revenue from its luxury boxes and club seats over to them in lieu of paying a $1.00 annual lease. That ended up being a $20M+ mistake PER YEAR since they moved from the old stadium in 1992. Fans wouldn't be getting hit with as much sticker shock as they are right now from those PSLs. But alas...

 

Ok, good post. Casinos will be on the ballot next year and a preliminary vote is in favor of it. The lack of revenue at the state level has them looking to create revenue thru casinos, with money from it funding the Hope scholarships. A few years from now, you gonna have certain cities kicking themselves from not having the vision to get on board a movement that IS gonna happen. Casinos WILL come to Georgia, and i think horse racing is right behind it. Lastly, whats this $1.00 annual lease that ballooned to $20 million a year that you are talking about??

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/exclusive-bills-would-legalize-casino-resorts-in-g/nkfSW/

Legislation that would open the door to up to six casino resorts in Georgia will be introduced in the state House on Thursday.

The measures, both by Economic Development Committee Chairman Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, would generate $250 million a year to support the HOPE scholarship, according to a briefing paper obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The bill, and its required proposed constitutional amendment, are not expected to pass this year but, instead, will begin a conversation that supporters hope leads to the amendment being on the statewide ballot in November 2016.

[DrReality]

Or to upgrade Phillips.

[ATLSmith]

I mean, maybe in 2025... The arena just needs a bit of sprucing up.

[AHF]

I've been all over Philips Arena for work. Front and back of house. There is TONS of wasted space there. The workout facilities are smaller than some Snap Fitness locations. The areas that used to house Thrashers equipment, marketing and what not are just dead space now.  They could easily remodel the player facilities and amenities one off season, the concourse the next.

 

That flat area near the back taco mac entrance is a complete waste of space. 

 

But what would Widespread Panic have to say about it?

[curtmcgirt]

But what would Widespread Panic have to say about it?

Nothing that a dime bag of fine Columbian bam-bam couldn't resolve.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Dejay]

What I was saying is that in exchange of the Falcons having to pay a real lease to the GWCC (who are the operators of the Dome), the GWCC instead get access to that juicy revenue from those luxury suites and club seats. Those suites are leased for around $50-100k a year. There are at least 150 of them as well as larger ones they built when they renovated a few years ago. There are also over 4,500 club seats that also go for a pretty penny. Do the math; that's what Rankin forfeited in the name of saving a buck. Talk about being penny-wise and pound-foolish...

Edited June 27, 2015 by Dejay

[curtmcgirt]

BTW Doraville was never an option. It was always going to be mixed use.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Guest]

City of Atlanta could pitch in $100-150 million in Philips Arena remodel

The Atlanta Hawks and the City of Atlanta continue to eye a significant remodel of Philips Arena and Mayor Kasim Reed says that a substantial amount of public money could be contributed to the project.

Mayor Reed recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the specific amount hasn't been determined but he is expecting $100-150 million to be dedicated to the process. Reed also indicated that he expected the deal to be in place during the first quarter of 2016.

 

"We have not settled on the number, but what we have looked at is our own capacity of what we can comfortably finance," he said in an hour-long meeting with AJC reporters and the newspaper’s editorial board. "We think that number is between 100 million and 150 million (dollars)."

Complete details of the planned renovation haven't been released but they are said to include the removal of the bank of luxury boxes that occupy one side of the arena. The entire project is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $250 million to $300 million.

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2016/2/2/10893574/philips-arena-remodel-kasim-reed-atlanta-hawks

 

[Hawkmoor]

meeeeaahhhh. I still think they should move the stadium. Move it to the perimeter area.  The area near Campbellton Road, Camp Creek area on the perimeter, off 285 is another area that would work.   Wide open space, near the airport.   Hawks should move out there. Its growing fast.  Wouldve been another perfect spot for Blank also.

Its still in Fulton county, so the politics of losing a team wouldve been negated in both cases.   The problem is the World Congress Center wants to be the center of attention with everything.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Hawkmoor

[cam1218]

2 hours ago, Hawkmoor said:

meeeeaahhhh. I still think they should move the stadium. Move it to the perimeter area.  The area near Campbellton Road, Camp Creek area on the perimeter, off 285 is another area that would work.   Wide open space, near the airport.   Hawks should move out there. Its growing fast.  Wouldve been another perfect spot for Blank also.

Its still in Fulton county, so the politics of losing a team wouldve been negated in both cases.   The problem is the World Congress Center wants to be the center of attention with everything.

To me, the Braves move to Cobb isn't a big deal. Some people act like they are putting the stadium next to Kennesaw Mountain. The location is just outside of Atlanta. Once I pass 285 going south I pretty much assume I'm in Atlanta anyways. Turner field was in a bad location. The Hawks have a good downtown location so I think staying put and investing in Phillips is a very wise decision.

[BigDog90]

@curtmcgirt Wow! All these years I lived in Atlanta, I didn't even think about the facilities the Thrashers used. Where are they located in the arena?