Thomas Coltrain
April 25, 2023
The proposed $2.1 billion Tempe Entertainment District will include a 16,000-seat arena for the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, a 1,500-square-foot emergency response facility, and nearly 2,000 residential apartments. The proposal also includes plans for a 68,000-square-foot outdoor event plaza, a 50,000-square-foot music venue, hotel rooms, office space, retail, and more.
Lumen Strategies Arizona
The City of Phoenix sues Tempe over approving proposals for the Tempe Entertainment District.
The lawsuit claims that Tempe’s approval of developing residential areas as part of the proposed Tempe Entertainment District violates the 1994 intergovernmental agreement between Phoenix and Tempe to mitigate noise levels resulting from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport operations.
In 1994, the City of Tempe and the City of Phoenix created an intergovernmental agreement to implement noise mitigation measures from flight operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The FAA proposed a noise mitigation master plan that includes the “4-DME” departure procedure, the side step arrival procedure, and departure equalization over a 12-month period. As part of this agreement, the City of Tempe was prohibited from building residential housing within two miles of Sky Harbor International Airport as those areas fall within the 65 DNL. The 65 DNL is an area where the Day-Night Average Sound Level is at least 65 decibels. The FAA considers areas exposed to aviation noise levels of DNL 65 dB or higher to be incompatible with residential land use.
Tempe.gov
“You cannot build houses in the exact place we have set aside to fly airplanes,” Jean-Jacques “J.” Cabou, the commercial litigator and white-collar investigations lawyer representing the City of Phoenix Aviation Department, wrote in a letter to the City of Tempe addressing concerns with the construction of residential units in the proposed entertainment district.
The City of Phoenix is not opposed to the development of the Tempe Entertainment District without the residential developments. The plans for apartment buildings to be included in the district breach a contract between the two cities. Over the past year, the City of Phoenix has attempted to resolve disagreements with the City of Tempe over the construction of residential developments in the 1.2-mile high-noise corridor directly under Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s flight path. A mutually beneficial resolution has not been reached and in March 2023 the City of Phoenix filed a formal complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Arizona Coyotes countersue city of Phoenix for $2.3 billion
The Coyotes and their development arm, Bluebird Development have filed a $2.3 billion countersuit against the City of Phoenix to seek the entitlement value of the proposed Tempe Entertainment District. The Coyotes and Bluebird Development claim that the City of Phoenix filed its lawsuit against Tempe to preserve its monopoly of sports venues downtown. They also insist that Sky Harbor previously made statements that it would not oppose the Tempe Entertainment District residential developments as long as they had adequate soundproofing.
The Coyotes have been searching for a new home since their lease of Glendale’s Gila River Arena was terminated after the 2021-22 season. The franchise is sharing Arizona State’s Mullett Arena for three seasons while negotiating with the City of Tempe to build on a tract of land that is currently operating as a landfill. The Mullett Arena has a capacity of 5,000 making it the smallest NHL venue in the league.
Tempe residents will be able to vote on the Tempe Entertainment District during a special election on May 16, 2023. Ballots for the May 16 special election will be mailed to Tempe voters starting April 19.
Is the City of Phoenix attempting to stonewall Tempe from participating in the Arizona professional sports industry? Would the Tempe Entertainment District still be as profitable to the city without apartment buildings? This is a developing story check back soon for more information.
