Tempe schedules first vote on Coyotes arena pitch

Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2022 - 6:20pm
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Most of the legal and financial analysis of the Arizona Coyotes’ pitch to build a new home in Tempe has been done in private.

But the Tempe City Council is scheduled to vote June 2 at a public meeting about whether to formally negotiate on the pro hockey club’s proposed development.

Tempe sought bids last year to build an entertainment district on roughly 50 acres near Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway which would be home to a sports franchise.

The only proposal the city got was from the Coyotes.

Nine months later, the Tempe City Council is set to vote on whether to start a monthslong negotiation process with the Coyotes or to kill the proposal.

Voting to bargain would mean launching an effort to draft a legal document with financial terms, timelines and specifics about what would be built. And it would come with what city officials call a robust public input process.

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