Does Hartford Need The NHL?
Another push to get a professional hockey teams in Hartford is being risen from the ashes like a phoenix. Lawrence R. Gottesdiener - downtown Hartford's largest landlord wants to bring a hockey team back to where the Whalers once skated. He is having some issues trying to get enough financial support from the investment community. Seems that a new arena will need to be built. The old Hartford Civic Center just won't suit their needs.
Who is Lawrence R. Gottesdiener though? He is the chairman and CEO of Northland Investment Corporation. Northland is "currently owns 60 properties, aggregating 14.1 million square feet in eight states. Northland's portfolio, valued at $1.4 billion, includes downtown and suburban office buildings, shopping centers, R&D properties, industrial facilities, hospitality properties and multifamily communities. Holdings are concentrated in New England and along the southern tier of the United States in Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina", (from their website") Northland Investment Corporation
They own about $500 million worth of real estate in Hartford today. So they do have a keen interest in the area. "Hartford is my goal, but you can't bring a professional sports team to a secondary market in this day and age without a brand new, beautiful arena. So if that's not available here, then we'll own it somewhere else." (Hartford Courant 4/6/06) The estimated cost for a new arena - $250 MILLION!
Now Larry is going to be a sport and pledge $25 million. One-tenth of the total cost. Now, I'm sure there will be other investors and some businesses willing to kick in but where do you think the bulk of it will fall? CORRECT! The tax payer!!
I don't know what the obsession is with getting a pro NHL team here. We had the Whalers, supporting them very well and they still left. Why? There are too many NHL teams in this metropolitan area now. The Boston Bruins are to the north, The New York Rangers and Islanders are in our back yard, and the New Jersey Devils a little further away. Does the NHL really want a 5th team again? I don't think so.
Can we afford them? Ticket prices will be alot higher than the AHL Hartford Wolfpack. The state will need to pony up a good chunck of money - coming of course you and I, the taxpayers. It benefits the immediate city of Hartford, but beyond?
We can make better use of the state's money, (education, transportation, energy conversation, etc.), than spending it on an arena for a team that will be there half of the year.
Who is Lawrence R. Gottesdiener though? He is the chairman and CEO of Northland Investment Corporation. Northland is "currently owns 60 properties, aggregating 14.1 million square feet in eight states. Northland's portfolio, valued at $1.4 billion, includes downtown and suburban office buildings, shopping centers, R&D properties, industrial facilities, hospitality properties and multifamily communities. Holdings are concentrated in New England and along the southern tier of the United States in Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina", (from their website") Northland Investment Corporation
They own about $500 million worth of real estate in Hartford today. So they do have a keen interest in the area. "Hartford is my goal, but you can't bring a professional sports team to a secondary market in this day and age without a brand new, beautiful arena. So if that's not available here, then we'll own it somewhere else." (Hartford Courant 4/6/06) The estimated cost for a new arena - $250 MILLION!
Now Larry is going to be a sport and pledge $25 million. One-tenth of the total cost. Now, I'm sure there will be other investors and some businesses willing to kick in but where do you think the bulk of it will fall? CORRECT! The tax payer!!
I don't know what the obsession is with getting a pro NHL team here. We had the Whalers, supporting them very well and they still left. Why? There are too many NHL teams in this metropolitan area now. The Boston Bruins are to the north, The New York Rangers and Islanders are in our back yard, and the New Jersey Devils a little further away. Does the NHL really want a 5th team again? I don't think so.
Can we afford them? Ticket prices will be alot higher than the AHL Hartford Wolfpack. The state will need to pony up a good chunck of money - coming of course you and I, the taxpayers. It benefits the immediate city of Hartford, but beyond?
We can make better use of the state's money, (education, transportation, energy conversation, etc.), than spending it on an arena for a team that will be there half of the year.
posted by Frank S. at 12:51 PM
2 Comments:
Poor, poor Larry. He has only $25 million saved up, therefore he needs another $225 million to build his stadium. I as a taxpayer in Connecticut will be outraged if one cent goes to support any more corporate welfarism especially for sports. Larry welcome to the real business world and come up with your own funding if you want your hockey team to play in Hartford. If not keep them in Pittsburgh, Hartford has enough losing entities already.
Hartford needs an NHL hockey team to help give people a reason to even visit Hartford. Theres nothing for people to visit or see. A Boston/Hartford rivalry would be awesome as well as New York/Hartford. Connecticut used to have an identity but Rowland was an idiot for driving it away. Connecticut has 3.5 million people and a hockey history with Springfield which is Hartford's sister city of a population 150,000. Connecticut has been stretched between New York and Bosoton for to long. Bring a team where theres people who need an identity and bring a team to a state with highest money per capita in the nation. Stop bringing teams to places they have lots of people but no hockey history and no real interest. Also just because theres people, it doesn't mean the people will spend cash on merchandise, bring a team to people who have money to support them and buy their merchandise. Attendance was also very good in Hartford even though they only had 3 winning seasons out of 17. They only left because Rowland was a jerk and certain circumstances pushed the Whalers to Carolina. Bring back Coonnecticut's identity and bring back an original WHA team.
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