Two Downtown Event and Entertainment District reports will be heard at City Council tomorrow. As was reported last week, one will be the funding strategy for the proposed project, ahead of any future decisions on whether to go ahead with the downtown revitalization project. The other is the Private Partner Agreement Framework, which names the international arena management company OVG360.

Director of Technical Services, Transportation and Construction, Dan Willems, says having a private partner means the company chosen adds funding to the project and will also help with savings when it comes to purchasing. “For example, if the partner is involved with three other arena constructions around the world, instead of us buying 15,900 seats on our own we could go in a bulk other with those other ones and increase our buying power and reduce our costs that way.” He also notes that OVG360 has built arenas recently, so if the project is approved down the road, the City can leverage their experience in the design work.

If the Private Partner Agreement Framework is approved, Administration will move forward with a detailed Master Agreement to be negotiated. Willems stresses that approval of either or both the funding strategy and the Private Partner Agreement Framework don’t mean the project is officially going ahead. It’s just moving things forward so that if it happens, all of the details will be in place and ready to go.