Investor buys up more SoDo land for new arena
Apr 11, 2012, 7:15 AM | Updated: 9:20 am
The wealthy hoops fan who’s trying to bring the
SuperSonics back to Seattle continues to buy property in
SoDo.
San Francisco hedge fund manager Chris Hansen
confirms he’s now locked up seven parcels of land south of
Safeco Field where he wants to build a new basketball and
hockey arena. He says most sales should close in the next
few months.
Hansen tells the The
Seattle Times he knows he is taking a financial risk
in buying the properties since there is no deal in place
yet with the city and the county on the public part of the
project.
Hansen reveals for the first time that the more
than five acres of property he now controls includes a
large chunk of land north of the proposed arena site that
could be used for parking or a practice facility.
It’s not known how much Hansen paid for all that
land, but based on previous sales, the figure could be
just short of $40 million.