The NBA’s next big cash grab: Taking over your downtown

Check out this image we took walking around LA Live and The Staples Center.

The Warriors and their megaplex in San Francisco, the remaking of the North Station neighborhood in Boston surrounding TD Garden, activity in Orlando, the Milwaukee Bucks new digs, the Sacramento Kings in the luxury condo business . . . . . .  the trend is clear that NBA franchises are getting more deeply involved with the urban core neighborhoods and into other lines of business such as real estate.  Nice article below from ESPN looking at this trend.

Do you want a new condo with those courtside tickets Sir?

ON A GRAY , misty April afternoon in San Francisco, Golden State Warriors CEO Rick Welts stands atop a parking garage overlooking the massive cavity that, in just over one year’s time, will house the three-time NBA champions. “I could come down here every day,” Welts says, holding an […]

That’s why the Warriors, along with a number of other NBA franchises, are looking to tech giants, million-dollar condos and buzzy restaurants to offset the construction of new facilities, as well as the price of running a team in a league whose salary cap and infrastructural budgets are ballooning. Although the league’s profitable broadcast deal that expires in 2025 helps cover much of those expenditures, there’s no certainty that the next contract will be as lucrative as this one.

To compensate for the move and their exorbitant luxury tax bills, the Warriors sold off 45 percent of this San Francisco project to the ride-share company, as well as 10 percent to Alexandria Real Estate equities, a development company that’s been active in the area. The Warriors then retained 45 percent ownership of that office space. Consequently, the most successful basketball team in the world will be collecting hefty rent checks for the foreseeable future from one of the most successful tech behemoths in the world.

Forty of the 45 units that cohabitate a newly constructed Kimpton boutique hotel have been purchased, including a 1,370-square-foot two-bedroom on the 14th floor in June for more than $1 million, according to public records. On a square-foot basis, this is one of the most expensive residential properties ever sold in California’s capital. And on the receiving end of that sales contract is a holding company that belongs to the NBA team playing just across David J. Stern Walk at Golden 1 Center.

In addition to player payroll, which a few years ago crossed $100 million annually among most teams and continues to climb, teams over the past decade have been engaged in arms races to brandish the glitziest training facilities, the most sophisticated medical and performance programs and the deepest analytics departments.

That’s why the Hawks are partnering with CIM Group on a proposed $5 billion, 12 million-square-foot, multiuse project that Koonin characterizes as an LA Live for Atlanta. A Hawks holding company would be a significant minority partner with an approximate share of between 30 and 40 percent. If the development is successful in its booming urban market, a franchise that has consistently finished in the red during its 50-year existence could handsomely balance the books with its investment.

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