From location to timeline: Your questions about the new LSU arena answered

Tiger Stadium. (Jordan Hefler)

 


Last week, the Metro Council approved an ordinance backing a new $300 million LSU arena.

The arena will host sporting events for LSU as well as entertainment and music events for the Capital Region. Once the arena is constructed, certain entertainment and music activities on property owned by the city-parish—like the Raising Cane’s River Center—will be restricted.

On Monday, Business Report sat down with representatives from the Tiger Athletic Foundation to gain a better understanding of what comes next for the project. Here’s what we learned.

Now that the Metro Council has approved an ordinance backing the new arena, what happens next?

According to Charles Landry, an attorney who has been hired to work with LSU on the new arena, TAF is currently in talks with two potential developers. The foundation is unable to disclose who those developers are at this time.

On Sunday, a list of RFP deliverables was sent to both of the potential developers. Those deliverables—detailed proposals relating to the arena’s design, construction and promotion—will need to be provided to TAF no later than June 30.

Landry says TAF will likely make a final decision on the developer within 30 to 60 days of receiving those proposals.

Where will the new arena be located?

The new arena will be constructed on LSU’s campus. More specifically, Landry says a site in the vicinity of the university’s baseball facilities on Skip Bertman Drive seems to make the most sense, though he stresses that nothing is set in stone.

One of the sites originally considered for the arena was the area next to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center where LSU’s track and field facilities are currently located. Those plans were scrapped, however, due to the considerable cost of relocating the track and field facilities.

Commercial Properties Realty Trust, which develops and manages property holdings of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, purchased about 40 acres of rundown land on Nicholson Drive last year. Landry says that land is “absolutely not” being considered for the arena, though establishments like hotels and restaurants will likely be constructed there to support the arena.

How will the new arena be funded?

The arena will be a private development, which means that TAF is not raising funds for the project. Although the arena will be on LSU’s campus, its construction will be fully funded by the developer.

What will the new arena look like?

Landry says the arena will feel “very different from a typical arena,” primarily because it will feature standing-room terraces. Patrons on those terraces will not be confined to any particular seats, and they will be able to move around as they please.

There are currently no exact specifications as to the configuration or size of the arena. The objective of TAF is to give the developer a good deal of flexibility in its approach to the project, Landry says.

When will the new arena be completed?

While it is unclear when construction might commence, Landry says the arena is expected to be operational at some point in 2028, meaning the project will take about four years to complete. The PMAC, by comparison, took eight years to develop.

The new arena is expected to replace the PMAC. What will happen to the PMAC?

According to TAF President and CEO Matthew Borman, under no circumstances will the PMAC be demolished once the arena is constructed. Over the next few years, the foundation will look at how the PMAC can be “repositioned.”

“Understand that the PMAC will be the PMAC for at least three and a half to four more years,” Landry says. “We have a lot of time to figure out how to improve the PMAC in the future.”