Yet another twist in this city’s ongoing arena saga now sees entrepreneur Chris Hansen and his group adopting a strategy once used against him by the Port of Seattle and its allies.
Hansen’s land-use lawyer, Jack McCullough, has submitted a letter to the city arguing that KeyArena renovation should be considered a “public” and not “private” process.
If this sounds familiar as a strategy, it should: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local No. 19 used the same public-vs.-private and “alternative sites” argument in its attempts to thwart Hansen’s project in Sodo four years ago. The union has been a key ally to the Port of Seattle in its battle to limit sports sprawl in Sodo, with both arguing that Hansen’s planned arena and surrounding ancillary development would hamper neighborhood traffic.
