GTA Centre (new Markham arena, BBB Architects)

[Kitsune]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=381071

Seems they want to break ground in 2012 and ...

The arena would be built on a tract of land owned by Bratty, just west of the existing GO Transit train station in Unionville, and just north of Highway 407, but would be part of a much larger sports and entertainment complex, not unlike the Staples Center and L.A. Live entertainment block in Los Angeles.

fascinating.

[taal]

hmm, Pretty crazy stuff ... even without a team it's profitable ? Seems hard to believe.

You got to imagine the owners of the ACC are terrified by this; The ACC is one of the most profitable venues in North America but this would likely change things a lot ...

You could see a lot of concerts going here instead, or at the very least there'd be a lot of competition.

[canarob]

NHL or not, I would LOVE for Markham to get an arena of this size. It would be a great venue for concerts for the northern and eastern GTA. The region is big enough to handle the ACC and something like this.

[adeel]

count me in as someone who would also love an arena (and an NHL team!)

[waterloowarrior]

Bratty is the chair/CEO of Remington Group

[canarob]

From the Sun: http://www.torontosun.com/2011/11/22...ould-rival-acc

Proposed Markham arena would rival ACC

A new 20,000 seat arena for the GTA?

If Graeme Roustan has his way, such a sparkling new building could be ready for business in Markham by 2014.

Roustan, Chairman and CEO of GTA Sports and Entertainment, acknowledged on Tuesday that “we’re looking forward to bringing our official proposal to the town of Markham in the near future.”

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti reportedly was going to update Markham council during a private session of a meeting on Tuesday night.

Town councillors are aware of the project but have been publicly muzzled after signing non-disclosure agreements.

The arena, which is estimated to cost $300 million, would be part of a massive project spearheaded by Roustan and Toronto-area land developer Rudy Bratty, who has an estimated net worth of $940 million. The proposed real estate venture calls for the construction of a huge entertainment and sports complex that would include the arena.

The arena would be situated west of Kennedy Rd., north of Highway 407 and west of the Unionville GO Station on land owned by Bratty.

Roustan, who also is the chairman of the Bauer hockey equipment company, insisted that the proposed arena is not predicated on wooing a second National Hockey League team to the Golden Horseshoe, claiming the building’s purpose is to supply a venue for concerts and other entertainment shows.

Whether the NHL one day decides to look at putting a second team in southern Ontario will have no bearing on whether the arena gets built, Roustan said.

“This market has clearly demostrated the need for a second world class (entertainment) facility,” Roustan told the Toronto Sun on Tuesday night. “This market certainly can support it.”

In other words, the GTA Centre, the name of the proposed arena, would provide a viable option to concert goers to the Air Canada Centre. Indeed, it is believed that show promoter Live Event already has shown interest.

Roustan, who was one of the finalists to buy the Montreal Canadiens a number of years ago before the fabled franchise was purchased by American George Gillett, claimed the arena does not need an NHL tenant to be a money-making venue.

“We’ve done a lot of research on this,” he said. “That’s why we decided to go ahead with this.

“The design of the facility is for multi-purpose usage. It has been designed to know that hockey can be played in the building. This building can support badminton, basketball and any other sports, too.”

Roustan hopes the first shovel could go into the ground by 2012.

mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/zeisberger

[canarob]

From the Star: http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey...eGQ_HA.twitter

Markham explores NHL-size arena

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says league doesn't endorse proposal to build NHL-sized arena in Markham. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says league doesn't endorse proposal to build NHL-sized arena in Markham.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says league doesn't endorse proposal to build NHL-sized arena in Markham.
Steve Russell/Toronto Star
Kevin McGran Sports Reporter

A group considering building a 19,500-seat arena in Markham has met with the NHL about putting a team there, but has received no promises or assurances from the league.

On Tuesday night, Markham council met in camera to discuss an NHL-sized rink as part of the Downtown Markham development. All members of council are subject to a gag order on the matter.

“Yes, we have met with them,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “They informed us of possible plans to build an arena. We told them (as the league told Quebec and other cities) to make that decision without regard to the NHL.

“In other words, they should not make a decision to build if that decision is in any way related or dependent on the NHL locating a franchise in Markham. For purposes of their analysis, they should assume it will never happen.”

The land, near the Unionville GO station, is owned by Rudy Bratty, chairman and CEO of the Remington Group. The Remington Group is at the heart of Markham’s proposed downtown development. There are no plans for a stadium on the city’s website.

Bauer chairman W. Graham Rouston is said to be interested in being part of an ownership group, both of the rink and potentially a pro hockey team. Rouston is a Montreal-raised private equity investor whose firm Kohlberg & Company, purchased Bauer from Nike.

The Greater Toronto Area has been proposed as a site for NHL-sized arenas in the past. Groups have proposed rinks in Downsview Park and Vaughan but neither plan has gone anywhere.

Putting a second NHL team in Toronto would be an uphill climb for any group. Billionaire Jim Balsillie tried to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton in 2009, but the idea was met with resistance from both the NHL — which remains in control of the Coyotes — and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who claim to have exclusive rights to the GTA that would prevent another group from locating here.

[egotrippin]

hmm, Pretty crazy stuff ... even without a team it's profitable ? Seems hard to believe.

You got to imagine the owners of the ACC are terrified by this; The ACC is one of the most profitable venues in North America but this would likely change things a lot ...

You could see a lot of concerts going here instead, or at the very least there'd be a lot of competition.

I hope the ACC is terrified, maybe a competitive venue would help to reduce exorbitant food and drink costs. It's beyond highway robbery right now.

And if Markham did, by some crazy chance, get an NHL team, I hope they'd go with a less regionally specific name. i.e. the Ontario someones, such as state named teams like the Florida Panthers. Markham just doesn't feel right, in my opinion.

[jn_12]

An arena without an NHL team could potentially make more money than one with a team. Concerts tend to make a lot more money than sporting events. It's just a matter of how many events can they attract and of what quality (for example, Copps Coliseum hosts around 200 events annually and brings in around $5.5 million in revenue and costs upward of $6.1 million to run and that's with an AHL team and not many high-end acts). Obviously, given that the guy behind all of this is the head of Bauer Hockey, there's an end-goal of an NHL team, but I think they're pretty confident it could be successful without, at least in the short term.

As for the prospects of an NHL team, Phoenix is very much on the radar. The NHL is getting tired of footing the bill there and Bettman has already said that the situation there needs to be solved by the end of the season.

oh and for the person above complaining about food and beverages - I don't see why this would have any impact on concession prices. If you want to see an event that costs $100 for a ticket, are you going to not go because your popcorn is $5 instead of $4?

[jonray]

Wow, i live right next to this site. (i could walk there right now)
Anyway, there is A LOT of land, however its disected with hydro lines, so if they were to somehow move them or clear them, space is not a problem. This area of markham is sort of neutral compared to unionville in terms of development but growing up hear both the municipal goverment and the youth are ambitious to make sections of markham highly urbanized. This does have a possibility of being built. A lot of young adults and students who live further west towards unionville and approaching the 404 shop and hang out near yonge and a long highway 7. They are accustomed to more urban living rather than suburban living. So I am confident that this along with many other projects in Markham will probably get built.

[egotrippin]

oh and for the person above complaining about food and beverages - I don't see why this would have any impact on concession prices. If you want to see an event that costs $100 for a ticket, are you going to not go because your popcorn is $5 instead of $4?

I only go to Leafs and Raptors games when I get tickets through work, and our (sometimes) generous suppliers, and yes, I cringe every time I pay $10 for an awful pint of awful beer. I can only stomach it because I'm typically there for free. On top of this, I'm almost never interested in the concerts scheduled there, meaning I'm only at the place a handful of times a year.

I suspect a competing arena in Markham would offer better concession prices, and possibly better ticket prices too. I'm obviously only guessing, but I'd imagine they'd charge less to book talent as an incentive for artists to perform in a similar, but far less recognized venue, away from downtown Toronto.

p.s., you're allowed to directly address other forum members here. Just a friendly tip.

[taal]

I'd imagine to the end consumer costs for any sort of events will be just about the same. I'm sure more then 50% of attendees at all events the ACC currently hosts are from the 905. So there's no reason why they couldn't charge the same amount.

They'd need massive amounts of parking though. No matter how they try to sell it on the transit front ... sure there's a GO station, and sure they can get Viva to stop here, but it doesn't matter ...

So this is on the eastern part of the giant plot of land I like to refer to as downtown Markham i.e. east of Warden south of 7 over to Kennedy. In the south east portion of the block.

I wonder what they're hinting at with the LA live comparison, my guess would be a hotel and a convention center, and some restaurants and the like I'm sure.

It's a little bit away from the downtown Markham center area they're pushing but were talking about a mater of blocks really, this would really help.


In some ways I wish MCC would get this though.

[egotrippin]

Just as long as they bury the parking. The last thing Markham needs is yet another sprawling surface lot.

[canarob]

Markham Live isn't a new idea. Regional Councilor Jim Jones has been pushing it for a while: http://jonesformarkham.com/quality-o...live%E2%80%9D/

The images on his site show some kind of concept of how it would look:

[taal]

Yea I remember that.

It's like the potential here to create an MCC (to a much greater degree SCC) properly from the get go.