With $300 million potentially to spend, PNC Arena renovations could begin next summer
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PNC Arena & West Raleigh Development Plans
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has a vision for both inside and outside PNC Arena that could entice fans to come early for games and stay after they’re over. Here is The News & Observer’s coverage of arena renovations and development plans for west Raleigh.
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With $300 million in tourism tax money tentatively allocated to renovate and update PNC Arena, construction could start as soon as next summer, the chairman of the arena authority said Friday.
“It’s realistic today. I hope it’s realistic in real life,” Centennial Authority chairman Philip Isley told the News & Observer. “We’re planning to move forward as quickly as we can.“
The authority has been looking into a package of upgrades to the 24-year-old arena costing in excess of $250 million for several years.
On Friday, the Raleigh city manager and Wake County manager presented stakeholders in the tourism tax with their recommendations for the next 22 years of spending, with more than $460 million to improve the Raleigh Convention Center and relocate Red Hat Amphitheater, $75 million for a new multipurpose indoor sports facility in Cary and $300 million for PNC Arena, predicated on a long-term arena lease with the Carolina Hurricanes and the development of the almost 80 acres of vacant land around the arena.
Agreements with Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon on both of those items are expected to be submitted to the authority at a special meeting Tuesday, called to approve “two (2) term sheets.”
The spending recommendations also still need the full approval of the Raleigh city council and Wake County commissioners. The city council is scheduled to vote Tuesday; the county commissioners on Monday, Aug. 21.
One new caveat to the proposed arena development, noted in the spending recommendations: The arena funding is predicated on the development including an affordable housing component.
Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell told the N&O that $300 million should be enough to bring PNC up to modern NHL standards.
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“It’s a healthy number to work with,” Waddell said. “Especially because the bones of our arena are in really good shape. That’s a credit to the Centennial Authority. Every year we’ve done $4 million to $5 million in maintenance so a lot of that stuff is in good shape.”
Friday’s recommendations are an important milestone in a process that has taken almost a decade and was delayed first by the sale of the Hurricanes from Peter Karmanos to Dundon in 2018 and then by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are extraordinarily pleased with the recommendations by the city manger and the county manager and we are hopeful to have the support of both the county commission and the city council,” Isley said. “We are moving forward and making sure we are able to obtain the money set aside for us by their parameters.”
The arena renovations, development around the arena and negotiations on a new long-term lease with the Hurricanes that will keep the team here beyond 2029 have been moving on parallel but inseparable tracks since May 2022, when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with the Centennial Authority to jumpstart the process.
“We’ve taken some big steps,” Waddell said. “Today’s an exciting day for all of us at PNC Arena. We look forward to getting to the finish line in the upcoming weeks.”
Dundon assumed the rights to develop the almost 80 acres around the arena when he purchased the team, but an authority consultant last year identified more than 17 stakeholders who had to sign off on the development of what is largely state-owned land. Dundon did not want to extend the team’s lease with the authority without that opportunity; the city and county did not want to allocate the renovation funds without a long-term commitment from the Hurricanes.
With the tourism-tax funds budgeted, all of that is now headed for a conclusion at Tuesday’s special authority meeting.
“I think the Centennial Authority is breathing a sigh of relief, to be honest,” said Doyle Parrish, who chairs the authority’s building and construction committee and also spoke at Friday morning’s tourism-tax presentation on behalf of the Wake County Hospitality Alliance.
“We weren’t quite sure where the city and county were headed. We knew there was a minimum bar we needed to achieve to do the things we needed to do, not the least of which was retain the Hurricanes and give the arena the refresh that the building and the community deserve. We got over the bar, but barely.”
Architects and consultants hired by the Centennial Authority last month presented the authority with a large number of options to upgrade the arena but without a set budget. Now that there’s a number, the authority can dig into how best to spend the $300 million and move onto bigger issues, including a new naming-rights deal..
Isley noted that even without finalizing plans for the full renovation or the $300 million, the authority has still taken on other projects, including locker-room upgrades for N.C. State basketball, the Hurricanes and visiting NHL teams as well as green rooms for performers.
“We’re doing stuff right now in the building despite any vote,” Isley said. “The roof’s getting done right now. We’re starting some other projects, like the locker rooms. Those are enhancements.”
This story was originally published August 11, 2023 at 11:26 AM with the headline "With $300 million potentially to spend, PNC Arena renovations could begin next summer."
