Victor Coleman going out on his own

Victor Coleman has been considered Chris Hansen's NHL equivalent for the Seattle Arena since last June. The two reportedly had a "non-binding agreement" to be partners in the arena and for Hansen to control the NBA side and Coleman to control the NHL side. "There is obviously a deal in place that can get done," Coleman said at the time. "The semantics by which it gets done, and the priorities by which it gets done, are going to depend on city officials, the county, and the Hansen group."

It was clear that Coleman was talking about an NHL-first amendment to the MOU between Hansen and the city of Seattle. However, all we kept hearing was that the city was waiting for Coleman, or anyone for that matter, to come to them with a proposal that penciled out for the city. One never arrived. We found ourselves asking "where is Coleman? What is he doing?" Well now we know.

It turns out that Coleman never presented a proposal and has, instead, decided to stake out on his own.This afternoon, Coleman revealed that he is no longer partnering with Hansen."I'm now looking at an alternative development partner," Coleman told KING5. Coleman says he is looking into building a privately financed arena at another location in Seattle, and says his first priority is still partnering with Hansen, but he thinks that privately financing an arena would now be the way to go.

However, Coleman has become frustrated with the process and does not believe the NBA will come in time to get the arena built. "Chris Hansen still controls all this property and he's got to make a determination," but that "the reality is basketball is not coming."

He is not impressed by the recent news out of Tukwila, saying the NBA and NHL do not want to be in the suburbs. "They should look at Glendale and elsewhere. "100 percent the league wants to be in downtown Seattle. My first objective is still to do something on SoDo," says Coleman. "It is the best place to be." Coleman also said he has "no interest" in a Bellevue plan, despite being recently approached about one.