Bucks to unveil $500 million stadium plan just north of BC

[source?]

Not to mention there is a theoretical drop dead date from the NBA for Milwaukee, no such must be done by date exists for DePaul that I'm aware of.

If you believe the DePaul board they have already booked Notre Dame as the opener in two years.

[4everwarriors]

Well, there's one loss already in da books then, hey?

[Herman Cain]

100% Agreed.  Milwaukee will (most likely) be braking ground in the next 1-2 months.  Their deal was officially announced in April, with approval in July.

Chicago's DePaul/McCormick Place Events Center was announced in May 2013.  Construction was planned to begin in 2014.  After amending the proposal, which saw the original 12,000 seat, $300 million stadium go to a 10,000 seat, $173 million stadium, the project saw a one year delay in ground breaking until 2015.

I see the site every day, and let me tell you, it is not even close to begin breaking ground and/or having construction anytime soon.  I would be shocked if anything happens before 2016, at the earliest.

Why DePaul rejected a 10-year, rent-free, offer from the United Center is beyond me.  The new stadium location is no closer to DePaul's campus than Rosemont for students.  It has no close train stop, and there is nothing there for students to go to.

United Center hard to get to and in a bad neighborhood. Not a selling point for a college. The new arena is accessible to the El and it is gives De Paul a lot of control over the use.  They had to make a deal with the devil but then again they are the Blue Demons.

Ultimately will be a good thing for the Big East and that will benefit us directly and indirectly.

[LloydsLegs]

United Center hard to get to and in a bad neighborhood. Not a selling point for a college. The new arena is accessible to the El and it is gives De Paul a lot of control over the use.  They had to make a deal with the devil but then again they are the Blue Demons.

Ultimately will be a good thing for the Big East and that will benefit us directly and indirectly.

it will be more than a hallf hour door to door from campus; they will continue to have terrible student attendance (unless they are winning) and unlikely to see anything other than a 2 year "new stadium bump" overall.  It is the largest Catholic school in the US and has a huge alum base in Chicago and they still can't draw.  Easy for me to say b/c options are limited, but DePaul should have held out for somewhere wiithin 15 minutes of campus - pref with no need to make connections on El/bus routes.  IMO, this ultimately will not be a good thing for the BE or MU, unfortunately.

[Chili]

United Center hard to get to and in a bad neighborhood. Not a selling point for a college. The new arena is accessible to the El and it is gives De Paul a lot of control over the use.  They had to make a deal with the devil but then again they are the Blue Demons.

Ultimately will be a good thing for the Big East and that will benefit us directly and indirectly.

I work 6 blocks from the UC and it's not that bad. Sure, I wouldn't want to walk alone at night just north of the UC but the same can be said for the BC. Also, for DePaul Students to get to the UC would just mean jumping on the Ashland bus or the Red Line to Green/Pink Ashland Stop and it's only a 5 - 7 min walk. Also, with the new developments in the West Loop, Fulton Market and now all the new breweries / distilleries in the area just north of the UC, things are changing fast. It's better than heading to the south loop IMO.

[LloydsLegs]

I work 6 blocks from the UC and it's not that bad. Sure, I wouldn't want to walk alone at night just north of the UC but the same can be said for the BC. Also, for DePaul Students to get to the UC would just mean jumping on the Ashland bus or the Red Line to Green/Pink Ashland Stop and it's only a 5 - 7 min walk. Also, with the new developments in the West Loop, Fulton Market and now all the new breweries / distilleries in the area just north of the UC, things are changing fast. It's better than heading to the south loop IMO.

All true.  While I think the best solution would have been a new arena closer to DP, UC is much better than south (and east) loop.

[Skatastrophy]

I work 6 blocks from the UC and it's not that bad. Sure, I wouldn't want to walk alone at night just north of the UC but the same can be said for the BC. Also, for DePaul Students to get to the UC would just mean jumping on the Ashland bus or the Red Line to Green/Pink Ashland Stop and it's only a 5 - 7 min walk. Also, with the new developments in the West Loop, Fulton Market and now all the new breweries / distilleries in the area just north of the UC, things are changing fast. It's better than heading to the south loop IMO.

So the UC area is harder to get to and it's an up and coming neighborhood that is nowhere near the nice stuff in the West Loop.

McCormick Place regularly houses mega events and is a straight shot from DePaul on the Red Line. The Red Line runs 24 hours, so you're not going to end up with people stranded on the West Side when the Green Line stops running at 1am.

I agree that an on campus arena would be preferable, but their new location is significantly better than the UC's area.

That being said: I don't see what the problem would have been playing at the UC for 2 years to give it a go to make sure they wanted to spend the money on an arena. It's better than the Allstate Arena

[Dawson Rental]

So the UC area is harder to get to and it's an up and coming neighborhood that is nowhere near the nice stuff in the West Loop.

McCormick Place regularly houses mega events and is a straight shot from DePaul on the Red Line. The Red Line runs 24 hours, so you're not going to end up with people stranded on the West Side when the Green Line stops running at 1am.

I agree that an on campus arena would be preferable, but their new location is significantly better than the UC's area.

That being said: I don't see what the problem would have been playing at the UC for 2 years to give it a go to make sure they wanted to spend the money on an arena. It's better than the Allstate Arena

Was the possibility of playing at the UC for just two years on the table?

Would the window of opportunity on the new arena have closed with a two year delay?

[Skatastrophy]

Was the possibility of playing at the UC for just two years on the table?

Would the window of opportunity on the new arena have closed with a two year delay?

I didn't hear anything about the UC offering more than their long term deal, but their events calendar is as bad as the Bradley Center.

It was my wild speculation that they'd be willing to entertain a trial deal. But like most wild speculation, I have no clue what it would have taken to actually make that happen.

[Galway Eagle]

So the UC area is harder to get to and it's an up and coming neighborhood that is nowhere near the nice stuff in the West Loop.

McCormick Place regularly houses mega events and is a straight shot from DePaul on the Red Line. The Red Line runs 24 hours, so you're not going to end up with people stranded on the West Side when the Green Line stops running at 1am.

I agree that an on campus arena would be preferable, but their new location is significantly better than the UC's area.

That being said: I don't see what the problem would have been playing at the UC for 2 years to give it a go to make sure they wanted to spend the money on an arena. It's better than the Allstate Arena

Who takes the green line to the UC? The blue line is much closer.

[GooooMarquette]

United Center hard to get to and in a bad neighborhood. Not a selling point for a college. The new arena is accessible to the El and it is gives De Paul a lot of control over the use.  They had to make a deal with the devil but then again they are the Blue Demons.

Ultimately will be a good thing for the Big East and that will benefit us directly and indirectly.

Agree in theory...but the UC is a real arena that DePaul could already be playing in.  The planned arena is still just a plan...approved a couple of years ago, but apparently no shovel has yet hit the ground.  Maybe it will really turn into an arena someday.  Meanwhile, DePaul languishes in their current God-forsaken dump.

In the time DePaul has been in the Horizon/Allstate, MU will have moved from the Mecca to the BC to the new Bucks Arena.

[The Sultan]

I think the idea was that DePaul would have dropped the new arena had they decided to play at the UC.

[GoldenWarrior11]

It's also worth noting that Chicago's West Loop area (which is near the United Center) has been on the rise for quite some time.  More and more residential and business locations are being built, with more and more stores.  The area itself is not free from bad neighborhoods, but the location, in my opinion, is still a better spot than the planned McCormick site.

The thing about the McCormick site is that it was originally approved because the expectation was that a casino would go right near there.  There has been nothing new on that front, which could be why there are so many delays.

If you look at the length it took the Cubs, not building a new stadium - but just to make renovations, it's no surprise that the project experienced delays.  That's Chicago for you.

[GooooMarquette]

I think the idea was that DePaul would have dropped the new arena had they decided to play at the UC.

Perhaps. 

But with each passing day, their decision to decline the UC offer - either as a temporary or long-term solution - looks worse.

[Galway Eagle]

I wonder if the UC would make that offer again?

[The Sultan]

Perhaps. 

But with each passing day, their decision to decline the UC offer - either as a temporary or long-term solution - looks worse.

Here is the original article on the UC offer.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20121119/BLOGS02/121119774/united-center-offers-depaul-free-rent-for-blue-demons-games

"But United Center ownership — Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz and, particularly, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf — are making an extraordinarily vigorous push themselves, perhaps out of fear that a new McPier arena would pull away some of the United Center concert and other nonbasketball business."
--------------


So how likely do you think it would be that DePaul goes to the United Center and says?  "Hey remember that free rent offer?  Can we take you up on that for a few years while we build a new arena?"

[MuMark]

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2015/09/15/bucks-arena-opening-to-be-delayed-ayear-until-2018.html?ana=twt

[brewcity77]

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2015/09/15/bucks-arena-opening-to-be-delayed-ayear-until-2018.html?ana=twt

Disappointing, but I'd rather they take an extra year and get it right. A small price to pay for a facility that should be around for 25-35 years.

[GooooMarquette]

Here is the original article on the UC offer.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20121119/BLOGS02/121119774/united-center-offers-depaul-free-rent-for-blue-demons-games

"But United Center ownership — Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz and, particularly, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf — are making an extraordinarily vigorous push themselves, perhaps out of fear that a new McPier arena would pull away some of the United Center concert and other nonbasketball business."
--------------


So how likely do you think it would be that DePaul goes to the United Center and says?  "Hey remember that free rent offer?  Can we take you up on that for a few years while we build a new arena?"

Not likely.  Still, DePaul would be better off in a real arena than a story about one that might get built someday.

[MuMark]

@richkirchenmbj: .@bucks spokesman says still target fall 2017 arena opening despite owner saying it will be 2018 http://t.co/hafK3t0CjE via @MKEBizJournal

[Dawson Rental]

@richkirchenmbj: .@bucks spokesman says still target fall 2017 arena opening despite owner saying it will be 2018 http://t.co/hafK3t0CjE via @MKEBizJournal

Maybe it was belated realized that no one had talked to the NBA yet.

[Skatastrophy]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/citys-portion-of-arena-plan-moves-another-step-forward-b99580869z1-328558061.html

The planning commission declared the parking garage to be surplus property. Things continue to move forward.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

United Center hard to get to and in a bad neighborhood. Not a selling point for a college. The new arena is accessible to the El and it is gives De Paul a lot of control over the use.  They had to make a deal with the devil but then again they are the Blue Demons.

Ultimately will be a good thing for the Big East and that will benefit us directly and indirectly.

Bad neighborhood? Hardly. Maybe in the 80s and 90s but that area has been so built up in recent years. Even the area around US cellular has been built up. (From yo and starbucks 4 blocks away from the stadium)

[moomoo]

done deal

[Skatastrophy]

http://www.jsonline.com/business/lease-negotiations-for-new-milwaukee-bucks-arena-to-begin-shortly-b99584224z1-329551291.html

Are we going to hear anything about a Marquette lease deal being negotiated with the new stadium sometime soon, too?