Sonics arena design updates are available

Arena design, looking down. From JANUARY 22, 2026 design review 3

Pretty cool and modern, without being cold.
They get quite a bit on to that footprint, the whole arena, practice courts, offices, team store, etc.

You can download the entire 72 page presentation here,
SEATTLE ARENA
JANUARY 22, 2026
EARLY DESIGN GUIDANCE 3
OPERATIONS & CONTEXT PlAzA & ThE PublIC REAlm STREET EdgE ACTIvATION ARChITECTuRAl ChARACTER SuSTAINAbIlITY

About Mike Baker

“Wizards only, fools, keep it tight.”—Ice King from Adventure Time (Reign of Gunters). - I have followed and written about the Sonics at SonicsCentral (as one of the "Magnificent 7") and a few other blogs. I have advocated for and written about efforts to find an arena solution for my community for several years. I am a native Seattleite, and lifelong Sonics fan. University of Washington grad. I majored in Communication.
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89 Responses to Sonics arena design updates are available

  1. James says:

    Looking at this on the heels of the news, has me pretty excited!

  2. Kevin Nesgoda says:

    This is great and all, but can we some how top the Warriors building the arena literally on the water? Maybe a giant arenaboat?

    http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Warriors-to-build-new-arena-move-back-to-S-F-3575560.php

  3. BlueReloaded says:

    As the designs continue to be refined down, I like them more and more. At first they looked too over designed and industrial, but now it feels like it would fit perfectly in any part of the city.

  4. Laporbo says:

    My two thoughts.

    People will call it The Turbine.

    Looks like Diamond Head, not Rainier.

  5. BlueReloaded says:

    Hey it’s better than the Brooklyn Rusty Blob!

  6. jason. says:

    the “street edge activation” section is some of the most exciting stuff in there (pages 30-35). tons of fun uses for the planned “plaza/terrace” areas. heavy emphasis on cultural activities and events that will bring people together, most importantly many of the suggested uses are for seemingly FREE events.

    i totally love this thing. makes me wish i got into architecture/city planning right out of high school.

  7. Kevin Nesgoda says:

    This can’t be good for the Maloofs

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/palms-casino-vegas-faces-1m-fine-drug-sting-18195904

  8. EJ says:

    Ric Bucher’s latest. Posted 45 minutes ago.

    http://sulia.com/ricbucher/f/2b9ce910-c07c-45b6-ae95-61a9aad663d1/

    So the potential hang-up I’m hearing with the sale of the Sacramento Kings is that the Maloofs don’t just want to retain a small percentage of ownership, they still want a voice in how the franchise is run. Their leverage, a source said, is to threaten to take the sweetheart deal still waiting for them in Orange County and, should the other owners not approve the deal out of allegiance to Dr. Buss and the Lakers, take them to court with an anti-trust suit. That is far messier than anybody wants, Maloofs included I suspect, but I also can’t see anyone buying the team and still giving the Maloofs any sort of say. The March 1 deadline to file for the rights to play somewhere other than Sacramento next season might be the biggest motivator in all of this.

  9. BarelyAble says:

    Gotta love that turbine design…hopefully if Boeing is a sponsor it won’t spontaneously combust.

  10. Menace says:

    I think the only thing anyone can say for sure is that Hansen and the Kings are in talks. And that isnt news at all. Thats been happening for a while.

    There are so many spins theories surrounding this thing at this point its hard to really believe anything else. Maloofs get a piece? Is it $500 or $525? Does Sacramento have a real shot with local ownership? And now is Anaheim back in play?

    There is a reason that this hasnt made major headlines in any of the major sports sites/publications. Nobody really knows. Lots of theory…….very little actual proof and a shitload of speculation.

  11. Numbers Guy1984 says:

    I find it interesting that Peter Steinbrueck, who claim it was “impossible” to outlay an arena on the footprint of the site and made public cries for Hansen to release arena renderings has not made comments since these renderings were initially released ~1 month ago. Just shows he sold his opinion to special interests and has little to no interest in being a productive member of this process. Lets hope this guy doesn’t get support for the mayor election.

  12. SpanishGlove says:

    Assuming that Sacramento would recover the Arena plan that they had with the Maloofs, and assuming Hansen would not up the offer over these 525 million, do you believe Sac’s group can invest 600m (450 team + 150 arena) to buy a franchise whose real value is 300m, and keep it in a small market like Sacramento?

    I can’t imagine that. I hope all this issue is just smoke where KJ do this to win votes ahead of elections, and maybe the investors just want to be preparated for a hypothetical expansion.

    What do you think about that?

    • Menace says:

      I dont think the price for the Sacramento group has to be as high due to the money that the Maloofs owe the city. The city might let them off the hook for that which brings down the price. If the Maloofs take home profit is the same then they are not going to care.

      Seattle offer $525 mm. - $77 mm they owe Sacramento. Leaves $448 mm.

      If a Sacramento group offers $450 and the City waives the $77 mm then its a wash.

      • Numbers Guy1984 says:

        Menace, it’s true that a Sac owner could be allowed to assume the loan (rather than pay for it like Hansen) but they will still be required to assume the loan which will eventually be required to be paid. Otherwise, Kevin Johnson would have to “forgive” the loan which would be in kind consideration from Sacramento. This is highly unlikely.

        With this in mind, any Sacramento buyer of the kings would likely consider the liability they owe to the City in the overall purchase price. Whether the loan is paid up front or in “X” number of years, is just semantics. It’s a $525m deal either way after the liability is assumed.

        • Menace says:

          If KJ and Sacramento are really really desperate to keep them there then forgiving the loan is a huge chip they can play.

          • Numbers Guy1984 says:

            Yes, but that is something that would have to be approved by the Sacramento City Council. There are two scenario’s here. 1) Sacramento used its public bonding capacity to loan the money to the Kings. If so, Sacramento would have to repay the bonds out of the city general fund if they forgave the loan or 2) Sacramento loaned the Kings money out of the general fund. In both scenario’s, “forgiving” the loan would be a hit to the general fund – something that would be wildly unpopular on the City Council and locally. I believe KJ has made a promise not to touch the general fund so doing so seemingly is not an option.

            Also, I think KJ already stated the loan would be assumed (not forgiven).

          • MarkS says:

            Consider Sacramento’s economy I’m not sure they can afford to forgive $77 million.

      • Brian Robinson says:

        If I decided to play center and I was 18 years younger and seven feet tall and talented I would be in the NBA instead of talking about it…

      • SpanishGlove says:

        Yeah, but NBA wouldn’t allow a deal to Sacramento if they haven’t a plan to build a new arena. So Sac’s group should add 150m at least to finance the arena, here you have the 600m.

        • Menace says:

          Thats up to the owner. The Maloofs were the ones pushing for the new arena. Its not a requirement. A new owner could have them continue to play at Sleep Train if they choose. I dont think its a “no arena no team” situation like it was here.

        • Brian Robinson says:

          Its simply not going to happen. That market is significantly worse than ours. Little corporate support. Economy driven by political forces and lobbying laws tightening down on how much they can donate in seats and suites(this is a big factor). No way does the city just casually kick in another $75M in debt forgiveness and some owner decide to pay that much to play in sleep train.

          Even if they did you have to take a look at the palace that Chris and team are looking to build and ask what image the league wants. They won’t settle for a really crappy old wooden building and an owner who has a financial model that makes no sense when they could have the most modern building in the world and Ballmer. Our ownership group will be a perennial luxury tax payer. They are going to do everything the league wants.

  13. bobbywilbury44 says:

    My take is that the quieter things are, the better our chances are. Let Hansen and the league do their process. You know the league is salivating at the prospect of a world class arena in Seattle. That rising tide lifts all boats in the new post lock-out NBA model. I’m sure the league owners also love the $500 + selling price for the Kings. Again, rising tide. We have a lot going for us. The Twitter leak was unfortunate, but the positive forces on our side remain the same. Stern wants this.

  14. Brian Robinson says:

    One of the best comments I’ve read recently on facebook was something like this:

    “I was playing with my stupid cat having it chase the laser pointer on the wall over and over again endlessly when I realize that me and the rest of the Sonics fans were pretty much doing the same thing with twitter every 10 seconds.”

  15. kba says:

    Chris Daniels ‏@ChrisDaniels5
    I would also tell you the anti-trust lawyers, hired by the Maloofs, have made a lot of people nervous in the League…

  16. Paul Rogers says:

    Carmichael Dave‏@CarmichaelDave
    Word is Gavin Maloof is emptying his house here.Gave a $2300 chandelier to his car wash guy. Giving other employees TVs, etc as thank yous.

    Carmichael Dave‏@CarmichaelDave
    Re: Gavin Maloof…. I have to be honest, even with everything happening- I always liked him the best. Always treated me and others kindly.

    Carmichael Dave‏@CarmichaelDave
    Mixed emotions are a part of the game I guess. Rarely are situations 100% cut and dry- the ones that are usually involve body counts.

    Carmichael Dave‏@CarmichaelDave
    I woke up this morning feeling more focused. Not going to waste time hating the Maloofs, esp Joe & Gavin. Focused on Ron and Dale and Mark.

    Carmichael Dave‏@CarmichaelDave
    “@AWalters_Kings: @CarmichaelDave who is the source for this?” Several longtime Kings mid-ops folks. The bread and butter folks.

    • EJ says:

      Carmichael Dave ‏@CarmichaelDave
      Surprisingly, some reading different things into my Gavin tweet. The only thing obvious is that the Maloofs’ time in Sacramento is ending.

    • soundersfan84 says:

      I’m having a challenging time trying to interpret this what this means? Good for seattle bad for seattle?

    • SonicsDawg says:

      Can’t help but worry and resent that Seattle group is being used to get rid of Maloofs and that NBA is going to give Sactown a window to save their team that they didn’t give Seattle 5 years ago.

      Of course, having a decent mayor helps, unlike idiot Nickels, but that wouldn’t have mattered once Clay bought the team. I just hope we don’t become what LA is to the NFL - the constant threat that forces every city to fall in line…

      • soundersfan84 says:

        SonicsDawg

        so Stern is gonna leave as NBA Comissioner that screw seattle AGAIN? That is not going to happen. He wants Seattle to have a team again.

        • soundersfan84 says:

          Why should NBA give Sac another chance THEY had all the time to get their acts in gear more than what Seattle had.

          • EJ says:

            Because if it were us, we’d want the same chance. It totally sucks that we didn’t get even close to as much a chance as Sac has got. But you can’t hate them for it. Just makes you hate Schultz, Bennett, Stern, Nichols, etc all the more.

          • soundersfan84 says:

            I agree with you there. I’m extremely worried that worried that the arena won’t get built cause we can’t get a darn NBA team.

  17. 206er says:

    anaheim would be a worst case scenario for everyone. i want more than anything to get this team in seattle. if they stayed in sac i’d be really bummed that we missed out on our chance but part of me would also feel good that if we can’t get the kings they got to stay in their current city. in anaheim, sacramento and seattle both get screwed AGAIN and the people in the los angeles/anaheim area will just have another team to ignore while they follow the lakers. that would be truly terrible.

    let’s go hansen/ballmer!

    • EJ says:

      Anaheim is the ultimate lose-lose-lose-lose situation for everyone involved. Seattle and Sacramento get screwed again. The NBA adds a 3rd team to the LA market. And the Maloofs are still around. YUCK!

      I really hate all of this. I wish that stupid Daina Falk would’ve kept her mouth shut and let all of this play out however it goes mostly in private. This is just nauseating at this point. For all involved.

      • soundersfan84 says:

        I agree. Waking up every morning seeing whats the latest stuff going on and more BS.

        Sadly whats the point of having league bylaws if they aren’t being respected And i mean Maloofs suing the NBA forcing them to accept relocation to anahiem.

      • EJ says:

        The ONLY consolation to us not getting the Kings and the Sonics back is if Sacramento gets to keep their team, as they rightfully should. That only reason AT ALL that I’ve been able to not feel terrible about this whole deal is the opinion that if they weren’t to move here, that they’d have gone elsewhere anyway. So seeing them stay in Sac-Town would be the only solace to them not coming to Seattle. Moving to Anaheim and the Magoofs getting their way would deal a serious blow to my already low opinions of the NBA.

  18. Paul Rogers says:

    http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/12/5109940/group-plans-to-buy-kings-and-build.html

  19. Paul Rogers says:

    I honestly don’t know what to think any more.

  20. danabarrosetc says:

    I’ll be curious to see if this new offer in Sacramento involves public financing. There’s nothing in that article that says it does or doesn’t. I would suspect it does since if it didn’t they would put that way out front. But who the hell knows about anything anymore.
    If there’s a public component to it, that makes things much more complicated.

  21. rambisfan-rmcd says:

    So that Bay Area reporter is either a pub seeking liar or deluded?

    • soundersfan84 says:

      Well this maloofs we are talking about. Never trust a handshake. He may be right but maloofs being morons anything can happen.

    • EJ says:

      EVERYTHING on Twitter should be viewed as rumor until verified. Reporters today are in such competition with the multitudes of other reporters that they have to make bold statements to get noticed. Leading to a lot of rumor and innuendo being stated as fact. As I keep warning everyone. Twitter does just as much bad as it does good in reporting news. Take it all with a grain of salt.

  22. EJ says:

    If all of this helps Sacramento keep it’s team, build a new arena, and get new ownership to replace the Maloofs, they should kiss our feet and thank Chris Hansen to the end of time. lol.

  23. Paul Rogers says:

    Part of me thinks that, if this Kings deal falls through after all this, this would put pressure on the league to grant us an expansion team. Part of me thinks we’ll be on the outside looking in once again.

    • soundersfan84 says:

      I hope that is the case regarding expansion.

    • EJ says:

      If this falls through, I just wish everyone involved learns to take Twitter with and the “I got the scoop!” journalism that comes with it with ultimate grain of sand. I honestly feel that all of these “reports” that have come out the past few days are just as much guesses as they are actual confirmed information. “News” in the Twitter age is as much about figuring out what is inaccurate, as it is finding it. If not more so.

    • EJ says:

      Also, I hope everyone learns their lesson about celebrating too soon. Softy on KJR should be ashamed if this doesn’t pan out. They way he got people’s emotions up, if this ends up nothing, is pretty cruel.

  24. Paul Rogers says:

    If the NBA didn’t allow a local group to match Clay Bennett’s offer in Seattle and they do allow a local group to match Hansen’s offer in Sacramento, then for the sake of justice an expansion team should be granted.

    • soundersfan84 says:

      Here here. NBA should give an expansion.

    • EJ says:

      I don’t think the NBA allowing a group to match has anything to do with it. Howard’s deal with Clay happened behind closed doors and was signed and sealed before any of us knew about it. The difference between the two deals, IMO, is two-fold. One, the Maloofs are such a crazy wild card. Two, the fact that this is taking place in the Twitter age. Were this to take place 5 years ago, nobody would’ve known a thing until a deal was done. Just imagine if social media as it is now was in place back then. We’d have likely found out about what was going down much earlier. And groups like Ballmer’s would’ve been able to try to step up and stop the sale to Clay. It totally sucks for us. But like I’ve said before. We shouldn’t begrudge Kings fans for getting what we would’ve wanted ourselves.

      • SonicsDawg says:

        The NBA will probably make a vague promise, “next time we expand Seattle gets a team.” But that process could go on for a decade.

        That way the NBA has us as a threat for other cities but doesn’t actually have to slice off 1/31 of the pie…

  25. SpanishGlove says:

    why are you so convinced that Hansen will not buy the kings? Maloofs have the last word, if our offer is higher than Sac’s group I think we’ll have team

  26. 206er says:

    wouldn’t this new group need to begin the process of getting the financing package approved? that would put them years behind hansen just like va beach was. not sure what to make of this but i am concerned like the rest of you

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