TEMPE, Ariz. — The fate of 46 acres of land in Tempe will be decided by the voters next month.
A proposed $2.1 billion entertainment district would not only be the new home of the Arizona Coyotes but also bring hotels, restaurants, and office spaces along with them.
The economic impact has been heavily questioned by those against the proposal, but now two recent studies shed some light on what people can expect.
W.P. Carey School of Business L. William Seidman Research Institute at ASU was asked to examine an economic study done by Conventions, Sports, and Leisure International.
It was commissioned by the Coyotes and the City of Tempe. The director and professor of economics at ASU, Dr. Dennis Hoffman, said it was more of an audit of the information provided to them.
“Based upon our independent analysis, this is a very good deal for the taxpayers of Tempe,” Hoffman said.
The biggest part that stuck out to Hoffman in his research is that taxpayers will not pay a cent for the project, from clearing out the land to construction costs. It all falls on the developer.
“There’s really only one way I will help pay for this stadium and facility and that’s if I go there and consume products and services or if I go to a hockey game,” he said.
It's one of the biggest draws to the entertainment district. Hoffman believes Tempe will likely never see a deal like this again.
“This one is unique,” Hoffman said.
When it comes to how much money will be generated once everything is up and running, the study said it will bring in $12.5 billion over 30 years. However, Hoffman said that number may actually be larger than predicted.
There is some disagreement on if that's accurate.
Grand Canyon Institute also did its own study on the project. Dave Wells, the research director, said since the middle of February, he has been looking into the project due to public interest.
Wells said Tempe might just break even when it comes to tax from the entertainment district.
“We found that Tempe lost money instead of gaining money," Wells said.
Wells's study looks into what will be gained from just the arena and music venue.
It reports that for every $2.70 collected by the Community Facilities District, only a dollar of new tax revenue will go to Tempe. Wells believes this will ultimately impact the City's general fund in the long run.
"Which means there will be slightly less money to spend on other priorities for Tempe,” Wells said.
The Coyotes commissioned study also reports that the music venue will host 75 concerts annually.
However, Wells argues that Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, where the Coyotes used to play, and Footprint Center in Phoenix will create more competition to book those events.
It's important to note that both these reports were based on assumptions that everything goes as planned, such as construction costs and the project is built on schedule.
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