The Sacramento City Council will take a closer look Tuesday at four development teams competing for a new Sacramento Kings arena project. The teams will take turns presenting credentials, experience and plans to analyze the financial feasibility of building a new sports and entertainment center to replace the Kings' current home, Arco Arena – soon to be known as the Power Balance Pavilion. The City Council is expected to decide at its Tuesday night meeting which team will work exclusively with the city for the next three months. The council postponed that decision two weeks ago so council members could get more information about the developers. The teams are: • The ICON-Taylor team, pu

Sacramento developer David Taylor and a prominent Colorado sports facility developer have been pegged as the top contenders in an effort to build the city a new downtown arena. Mayor Kevin Johnson's arena task force is recommending city officials work with Taylor and ICON Venue Group to determine if building a sports and entertainment center is feasible now and if they're the right team for the project. In an analysis released Friday, the task force encouraged the city to give the ICON-Taylor team 90 days to study the viability of such a project and to develop a proposal and financing plan. The team was handpicked by Johnson after another team, which then included Taylor, failed to produ

An arena task force will use flexibility to analyze a second round of project proposals because there is such a wide range of plans now before them, a task force co-chair said Thursday. Co-chair Chris Lehane called the proposals to build Sacramento a new sports and entertainment facility "apples and oranges.” Each plan from the four teams has different levels of detail and preparation, ranging from three weeks to more than a year, he said after a public hearing at historic City Hall. Lehane and member Matt Kelly, executive secretary of the Sacramento-Sierra’s Building & Construction Trades Council, said they appreciated the work Sacramento developer Gerry Kamilos and the Convergence Team

A team handpicked by Mayor Kevin Johnson and led by Sacramento developer David Taylor and national sports facility builders has emerged as one of the frontrunners to develop a new arena. Taylor quietly ended his partnership with developer Gerry Kamilos after their first proposal, a complicated land swap, didn't produce a viable proposal by its October deadline. Taylor is now partnering with the historic railyards' new owner, Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, and others. On Thursday, his group submitted a letter of interest to Johnson's arena task force briefly outlining a proposed process for developing a sports and entertainment center. Another three teams submitted new or modified

Mayor Kevin Johnson's arena task force resumed its work to get a new facility built in Sacramento Thursday – minus two members who've now thrown their expertise behind a runner-up proposal. At the same time, the task force is opening the process to more developers after its top choice – a complicated three-way land swap submitted by developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor – didn't pan out. The task force is accepting new proposals as well as updated versions from the first round of proposals submitted last December. The public is expected to get its first look at the contenders in early January, the group said Thursday in a press release. In a surprise move, two task force members dec

Mayor Kevin Johnson is reassembling his arena task force next week to consider next steps in the effort to get a new arena built in Sacramento. Mayoral Special Assistant R.E. Graswich and other staff from the mayor's office expect to meet Nov. 18 with at least 10 members of the original Sacramento First Task Force. Details for the private meeting at City Hall were still being finalized Wednesday. Graswich will update the task force on the status of a proposal from their chosen developer, Sacramento Convergence Holding LLC, led by Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor. The developers’ exclusive negotiating period with the city ended late last month after they were unable to produce a viable plan

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson asked city staff Tuesday night to present new ideas on a sports and entertainment complex in mid-January. Johnson also said he would reconvene his Sacramento First task force, which has analyzed several arena plans in recent months. At their weekly meeting, council members briefly discussed pitfalls with efforts to build a new sports and entertainment center. A complex plan for a new downtown arena spearheaded by developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor recently failed. The plan called on Cal Expo to be a major partner, but Cal Expo decided not to join the effort.  Marni Leger, speaking on behalf of the Natomas Chamber of Commerce, urged the council to co

Arena plans submitted to the city last December will get a second chance after developers behind a complicated land swap didn't produce a viable proposal on schedule, a city official said Friday. At least one of the teams behind the other six proposals is still interested. The exclusive negotiating period granted to the Sacramento Convergence Team, led by developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor, ends Monday. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, city staff will propose spending the next few months determining whether any of the other proposals seem possible. "It's now time to regroup and touch base with our stakeholders – the NBA, for the most part, and Maloof Sports and Entertainment –

The developers behind a proposed downtown arena will get another month to present an alternative plan after state fair officials pulled out of the deal, the Sacramento City Council decided Tuesday. Cal Expo board members on Friday voted against being part of a three-way land swap to move the state fairgrounds to Natomas and allow private developers to sell the fair's current site in a deal to build an arena downtown. The Sacramento Convergence team, led by Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor, is now scheduled to present a new proposal at the Oct. 26 council meeting — a day after an already-extended exclusive negotiating period between the team and the city technically ends. "The only way we

California Exposition and State Fair officials said no Friday to being part of an arena land swap deal. At the end of a four-hour meeting, the board voted 7-2 against further study of a proposal by developer Gerry Kamilos and the Sacramento Convergence team to relocate the state fairgrounds to Arco Arena in Natomas and to develop the 350-acre Cal Expo site to help finance a new arena downtown. Board members said they want proceeds from Cal Expo's development to benefit the state fairgrounds and the state, rather than a private company and an arena. The Cal Expo board has already spent too much time studying ideas to modernize the fairgrounds by helping to get an arena built, they said.

Following several setbacks, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Thursday things aren't looking good for downtown's two biggest development projects, the Railyards and the arena. A downtown arena proposal involving a complicated land swap and the state fairgrounds has only an outside chance of happening. At the same time, it would be in the city's best interest if a suburban Chicago real estate investment company forecloses on Thomas Enterprises and its 244-acre Railyards project, he said in a press conference at City Hall. Johnson said he hopes California Exposition and State Fair officials will postpone a decision at a Friday board meeting and spend another month evaluating a deal for a

A potentially pivotal meeting on an arena land swap proposal and the state fairgrounds' future is set for Friday, when California Exposition and State Fair officials may decide on the project's fate. The agency's board of directors is expected to either vote on selling Cal Expo and swapping that fairground site for one in Natomas or postpone a decision to allow time to consider developer Gerry Kamilos' latest proposal, which includes privatizing operation of the new site. Cal Expo's board of 10 volunteer directors must decide how to upgrade the aging facilities for the state fair and events held by trade groups and others on the grounds. Richard Cuneo, Operations and Planning Committee c

A few more details have emerged as part of an arena and land-swap plan currently being considered by city and state fair officials. A plan laid out by developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor calls for mixed-use private development of city-owned railyards land and the current state fairgrounds site. That development would help finance a $400 million sports and entertainment complex downtown and new fairgrounds in North Natomas, according to documents the city released late last week. The "Sacramento Convergence" development team, which includes Macquarie Capital, would invest $600 to $700 million in private equity and debt in the project. The developers also propose other funding mechan

 Sacramento Convergence LLC Arena Proposal Tentative Timeline Arena developers, led by Gerry Kamilos of the Kamilos Companies and David Taylor of David S. Taylor Interests, have presented city and state officials with a preliminary schedule for their plan. Key dates include: • Arena Proposal, May 27, 2010 Developers must turn in the formal sports and entertainment complex proposal to city. The plan calls for developers and Australia-based investor Macquarie Capital to form a special-purpose entity to partner with city and state on performance-based infrastructure project. • State Exclusive Negotiating Agreement, June 15, 2010 Developers hope to start negotiating to buy the 350-acre s

The sale of Cal Expo and the swapping of that fairground site for one in Natomas — proposed in a plan to build a new Sacramento arena downtown — are far from a done deal. While the Sacramento City Council agreed at its meeting Tuesday to enter an exclusive negotiating agreement with the developer, a detailed look at the feasibility and economics of such a move has just started for Cal Expo. On Friday, consultants will present the California Exposition and State Fair board with the first report in an analysis encompassing the arena proposal from developer Gerry Kamilos and the Sacramento Convergence LLC. The consultants will also come up with alternatives for upgrading and expanding the c

The city of Sacramento is one step closer to selecting the Kamilos "Sacramento Convergence" group to build a new arena in the downtown railyards. Both sides met Thursday morning, and, according to an assistant city manager, John Dangberg, Gold River developer Gerry Kamilos signed an exclusive right to negotiate (ERN) document. The City Council will be asked at its April 27th council meeting to consider entering into the agreement with Sacramento Convergence Holding LLC, the group headed by Kamilos. The agreement comes five weeks after the council asked staff to begin talks with the group about its proposal to build a sports and entertainment center at the downtown railyards. Kamilos is p

In a win for Mayor Kevin Johnson and his arena task force, the City Council agreed to start talks with Sacramento developer Gerry Kamilos on a plan to build a new sports and entertainment center in the downtown railyards and develop two other sites. The City Council’s approval to begin talks with the Kamilos Group was unanimous. While an agreement between the city and Kamilos was not completed Tuesday, the council moved closer to a decision to work with Kamilos. In Kamilos’ multi-layered plan, the downtown railyards would be the location of a new sports and entertainment center. The plan also calls for the creation of a new state fairgrounds at Arco Arena and nearby property. Kamilos’ t

Sacramentans should be enjoying a sigh of relief today, and a swell of pride. After months, years, even a decade of back and forth, conflict and aimlessness, there is finally some movement forward on a sports and entertainment complex. Yes, forward. Thursday morning's decision by the Sacramento First Task Force to recommend - if just recommend - the complicated but far-reaching "land swap" proposed by Gerry Kamilos' and David Taylor's organizations, and supported by the NBA and other crucial organizations, means that we are moving forward. Finally. There will be a lot of arguing about this for some time. As an assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is to be praised for making progress on

A consultant for the National Basketball Association pressed the City Council earlier this week to back its proposal for a new arena in Sacramento. The NBA, developer Gerry Kamilos and the Maloofs are working together on the proposal, which is led by Kamilos. John Moag, a consultant for the National Basketball Association, expressed his preference for the NBA/Kamilos plan in a Feb. 9 letter sent to Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Council members. “We expect the City of Sacramento will be the lead agency on the convergence project with a major role being played by the state of California,” Moag wrote. “We urge you to make the review and consideration of the convergence plan a priority of th

The ongoing drama over a new Sacramento arena was kicked up a notch Thursday when a consortium of investors and local developers, together with the NBA, proposed a complex real estate deal involving the Railyards, Cal Expo and Arco Arena. Whether or not that deal eclipses all the other proposals on the table remains to be seen. But regardless of which arena proposal ultimately becomes reality, it will be a game-changer for Sacramento. Just how much depends on which of seven proposals the city and the Sacramento Kings' owners agree on. The Maloof/NBA proposal involves real estate deals that would lead to Cal Expo being sold to private developers for a mixed-use neighborhood, Arco Arena an