Panthers launch development plan - South Florida Business Journal:

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, the real estate development that owners of the hockeg franchise arenow proposing. The plan is to builr the mixed-use district on the 139 acres that surroundf thein Sunrise. The firstf details of the plan are emerging asthe team’ s parent company, (SSE), engages in negotiationsd to merge the its arena management compant and rights to the real estate surroundingf the BankAtlantic Center with , a public-stock companty formed last year, sources said.
The potentiap deal values the assetsat $230 million, including debt, with the plum in the talk being the possibility of developing the site arouncd the arena, said sources, who also notedd that negotiations have been takingy place over the last several weeks. But, both a merger and futurw site development deal are likely to need Browards County approval tomove ahead, accordiny to Dick Brossard, interim deputy Broware County administrator. The county owns the land and the arena, whichj it leases to the Panthers.
“That wouldf be a lease assignmentt and would require county commission approvalp to amend the existingg lease andoperating agreement,” Brossard He said that, to his the county has not been approached by the Pantherxs about a potential merger, and has seen no formal proposal for developing the parking lots that surround BankAtlanticv Center. But, Panthers owners on Feb. 26 had a pre-application conference with the to lay the groundworj required to get entitlements tobuild Oz, according to council documents, which provided the first detailed summary of the plan.
Team ownersa have also been meeting with locakl government officials to gauge their levell of acceptance for the entertainment andcommerciapl district. “A concept has been presentedx to us that they would like to do a theaterr districtwith multi-use Sunrise Deputy Mayor Donald Rosenm said, noting that the which gave the land to county to builf the arena, “can’t do anything unless the count says it is a go.” At the heart of the projectg is a Broadway-style theatert to be operated by the New York-based , which runs abouf 30 theaters worldwide. President James L.
Nederlanderf became an SSE partnerlast year, but provided no detailsd about when Oz may “Right now, there is nothinhg I can talk about,” he A project of such magnitude would likeluy have to be phased, according to governmenf officials and real estate watchers. And the troubled economy woulcd likely play a leading role in the timing of that. It is unclear how the project would be butlast year, when SSE firsr began rolling out its plan to develop the arensa land, it said it planned to securer private financing for the development or could seek industriap development revenue bonds and affordable housinvg bonds, which require no financial commitmentf from the county.
“I would call it Stiles Realty President Tom Kates saidof Oz’s scale. the catalyst is the arena.” He said the project is certainlyy viable inthat location, but could be considerex dense for its suburban venue. The nearbg Sawgrass International Corporate Park houses about 4 millionb square feet of commercial space on612 acres. Sunrise Mayoe Roger Wishner said he is reservinhg judgment on the Oz project until he sees adetailed But, generally, he said it stands to be a strong economix engine.
“Certainly, based on the conversations and discussions I have thetheater … would be a first-clasxs theater located here, and this would draw a tremendouxs population,” Wisher said. According to the City of Oz Web the project would create anestimated 13,4787 total new jobs in South Florida with a $226 million annuakl payroll at the job site and a overalo $443 million annual payroll acrosss the region, not including the The question now for officials is whether a merger will be a game Sports Properties raised $215 millioh last year in an IPO for the purpose of buying companies in sports and Under federal securities rules, it has until Jan.
17 to completr a deal or the monet is returned tothe shareholders. Andreaw Murstein, the financier spearheading the company and whoowns 18.1 percent of it, declined to comment, citinvg federal stock regulations that prohibit him from discussingg unannounced transactions. The Panthers also declined to comment. As part of the prospectivee deal, the sources said, the Panthers’ ownerds would receive stock inSportse Properties, making the hockey team a unit of the publidc company. The team was publicly held before formerowner H. Wayne Huizenga sold it in 2001 to currenty general partner Alan Cohenfor $101 million.
Cohen is the foundetr of genericpharmaceutical concerns, most notablg Davie-based , which was purchased by in 2006.