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The project, expected to be completed by the fall of 2021, will be built on tribal land in partnership with Oak View Group in Beverly Hills. Possible first tenant: a minor league hockey team.
Palm Springs will soon have its own entertainment and sports arena.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Oak View Group, a global venue development company in Los Angeles, have proposed building the arena on 16 downtown acres owned by the tribe in downtown Palm Springs, according to a statement.
The 173,000-square-foot arena, which will include at least 10,000 seats, will be privately funded and built on 16 acres. It will be located just north of the tribe’s downtown casino.
When completed, the arena will include luxury suites and premium hospitality clubs, and will be able to host conventions, corporate meetings, international events and trade shows.
“This is a unique partnership that will forever change the face of sports and entertainment in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley,” Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe said in the statement. “We are creating a healthy community gathering place for Coachella Valley families and visitors from around the world to celebrate, play and experience diverse entertainment opportunities in a state-of-the-art arena.”
Tribal officials did not return calls seeking further comment.
The tribe is putting together an environmental impact statement regarding the arena that will study aesthetics, air quality, energy, water, land use, noise, public services, among other issues.
Cost of the project was not disclosed.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for next February, with construction to begin immediately afterward. The arena is expected to open in the fall of 2021, and both the tribe and Oak View Group hope to have secured a professional hockey team as a tenant when that happens.
NHL Seattle, led by billionaire businessmen David Bonderman, and Oak View group have submitted an application for the 32nd American Hockey League expansion team to play in Palm Springs.
If approved, that team will begin to play right about the time the arena opens.
Bonderman, who is also trying to bring an expansion National Hockey League team to Seattle, is a minority owner of the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics.
Tribal officials and the Oak View Group have also secured an agreement with Live Entertainment Nation in Beverly Hills, which promotes, operates and manages live acts, in the United States and internationally.
Live Entertainment Nation also owns and operates arenas and other live entertainment venues.
In addition to Palm Springs, the company has during the past two years secured development deals for entertainment venues in Seattle, Elmont, N.Y., Austin, Texas and the 2026 Winter Olympics venue in Milan, Italy, according to a statement.
“We’re pleased to be able to partner with Oak View Group and Agua Caliente for this new state-of-the-art arena, and look forward to bringing in top touring artists and live events to the valley for years to come.”
Building an arena in downtown Palm Springs is an idea that has been around for years, Councilman J.R. Roberts said.
What makes this proposal unique is that the facility will be built on tribal-owned land – part of a sovereign nation, according to the U.S. government – which means the city won’t have final say regarding the project.
“If it’s planned well I think it will be a good thing for the city,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be a large structure and it will have good freeway access. There are some issues, like parking and traffic, that have to be resolved, but the good news is the city and the Agua Caliente tribe have a history of working things out.
“The upside is we’ll get a downtown arena that will bring people in from outside the area, and that’s a good thing.”
The arena is expected to create thousands of temporary and permanent jobs, although how much money it might pump into the Palm Springs economy, or the Coachella Valley, is up for debate.
“I think it will have a positive impact, because everything in Coachella is about expanding the range of tourist options, which an arena will do,” Inland Empire John Husing said. “It will be competing with a lot, like the Coachella Valley [music] festival and the entertainment at the casinos, so they will have to structure it so that people keep coming back.
“But it should get people from all over the valley.”
Because the Coachella Valley has no professional sports teams, the presence of a minor league hockey team could be a major event, said Mike Crabb chief sales officer for the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“We’re pretty excited about getting a hockey team, because a lot of people from Canada come down here and they all like hockey,” Crabb said. “The challenge will be to get people from outside the area, from San Diego and Los Angeles.”
