Agua Caliente, Oak View Group Partner to Build New Arena in Palm Springs
A new sports and entertainment arena is coming to downtown Palm Springs. Today it was announced that the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Oak View Group (OVG) will partner to build a new state-of-the-art sports and live entertainment venue. Live Nation Entertainment also boards as a strategic partner.
The venue’s capacity will seat at least 10,000 and occupy 300,000 square feet on 16 acres of tribal land. An adjoining facility will serve as a community space and training center for an AHL team (NHL Seattle owner David Bonderman and OVG have applied for an AHL Franchise expansion team, which, if approved, plans to play in 2021).
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Construction on the site is scheduled for February 2020 with a projected opening in Fall, 2021. Concurrently, OVG is developing venues in Seattle, Belmont Park in Elmont New York and the University of Texas in Austin, in addition to structures in Milan for the Winter Olympics in 2026.
“With each venue, we’ve had the privilege of building and managing, Oak View Group has consistently continued to raise the industry standard, and the arena in Palm Springs will be no exception,” said Tim Leiweke, CEO of OVG. “We look forward to working with Agua Caliente to build what we consider to be one of the most premiere music and professional sports arenas in the world.”
Added Tribal Chairman Jeff L. GrubbeL “This is a unique partnership that will forever change the face of sports and entertainment in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. We are creating a healthy community gathering place for Coachella Valley families and visitors from around the world to celebrate, play and experience diverse entertainment opportunities in a state-of-the-art arena.”
The arena will be able to house conventions, award shows and exhibitions, in addition to concerts and live entertainment events. As it is privately funded, the build-out poses no risk to the City of Palm Springs or its taxpayers and promises to create hundreds of new jobs.
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