von Reichbauer calls for review of legal costs for proposed arena project

July 9, 2012

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Metropolitan King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer today sent a letter to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg asking his office to investigate the legal costs involved in reviewing the memorandum of understanding for the proposed NBA/NHL arena in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood.

The King County Council and Seattle City Council have been reviewing a memorandum of understanding reached between private investor Christopher Hansen, County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn to construct a new arena in Seattle’s Stadium District with the ability to host basketball, hockey and major concerts. Both Councils must adopt the memorandum for the project to proceed.

In his letter to the Prosecutor, von Reichbauer said it would help in his in his evaluation of the proposed deal if he knew the the numbers of hours attorneys in the Prosecutor’s Office have spent reviewing the agreement and the approximate cost. von Reichbauer has also asked the Prosecutor to determine how much the County has spent on outside attorneys to assist in the review of the plan and how much he expects to spend on outside counsel over the next 30 days.

In addition, von Reichbauer said he will be in contact with a member of the Seattle City Council to request similar information on the legal costs incurred by the Seattle City Attorney during its review of the agreement.


SODO Arena Proposal