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Developers Deliver New Arena Plans To Maloofs, Public

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Plans for a new arena in Sacramento were presented to the public for the first time Thursday. Joe and Gavin Maloof were in the front row to see the new plan.  It was the first time the Maloofs visited City Hall since the two sides took legal swipes at one another during the relocation talks.

It was five years ago that the Maloofs walked away from a city-sponsored railyards arena plan that would have been funded with sales tax.  Now, at the press conference on Thursday that followed Thursday's arena presentation, CBS13 asked the brother's 'what's the difference this time around?'

"What's your reaction to it, and in particular, your reaction compared to what you saw in 2006 at the railyards plan?" asked CBS13 reporter Steve Large.

Joe Maloof kept his answer short.

"A very positive reaction; a lot of time and efforts been put into this.  And this is a completely different situation than it was in the past," he said.

But, Mayor Kevin Johnson also added his answer to the mix.

"I can tell you they've called and texted about how pleased they are this time around.  He's being bashful today; we feel very good," said Mayor Johnson.

The new arena plan, with its see-through structure, will cost $387 million.  Some other details include the 44 more luxury suites and 1300 more seats than Power Balance Pavilion.

But, the arena will not have on-site parking, which is a glaring detail, but the designer behind it stands by that decision.

"I will submit that spending 20 or 30 million on another parking structure is completely unnecessary," says Tim Romani, ICON developer.

As for financing the arena, there is now talk of a national or international firm operating the arena with the Maloofs willing to only serve as tenants, which is a big change from 2006.

"That will grow with revenue in the arena, and grow the amount of private capital that can construct it," said David Taylor, Sacramento developer.

And that could be a game changer.

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