New Bucks president says public financing of new arena needed to spur downtown development

MILWAUKEE — Public financial support is needed for a new, multipurpose arena to help stimulate downtown Milwaukee development, the new president of the Bucks said Tuesday.

At a luncheon sponsored by the Rotary and the Milwaukee Press Club, Peter Feigin said city, county and state support is crucial to build upon what the Bucks hope is a much larger investment in downtown, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1Ao0OTm) reported.

While a new arena is expected to cost between $400 million and $500 million, Feigin said it could help bring more than $1 billion in development.

"We wouldn't get that without assistance," Feigin said.

Asked how much land the Bucks would need for a new arena, Feigin said the NBA team wants to have as large a footprint as possible in order to "make it as opportunistic as we can."

"We are putting the pieces together," Feigin said. He said navigating the public-private partnership, and working with the city, county and state can slow the timetable.

Bucks owners Wes Edens and Marc Lasry have pledged at least $150 million toward a new arena. Former Sen. Herb Kohl, who sold the team for $550 million, also has pledged $100 million.

He said 80 percent of the franchise's season-ticket holders are individually owned, while the remaining 20 percent are held by corporations, a situation he called "horrendous."

"We want to change Wisconsin, we want to change Milwaukee, we want to build a multifaceted arena that is a magnet for tourism, for revenue, for economic growth, for employment and we want the Bucks to be the catalyst," Feigin said.