The Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals unanimously approved the $68.5M appraisal for a portion of land in PhoenixGoogle Earth
An upcoming land auction “could decide whether the Coyotes remain” in Arizona as the team attempts to buy a piece of land and build a new arena, a process that “took an important step forward” last week, according to SPORTSNET.ca. The Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals last Thursday unanimously approved the $68.5M appraisal for a portion of land in Phoenix, where the Coyotes “hope to build an arena.” That means the Land Department can “sell the land at auction but the date for auction must be advertised for 10 weeks.” While an exact date has “not been set,” that time frame “puts it on track to not happen before late May or early June.” If the Coyotes lose the auction, the club would be “forced down the other path” -- a path that could “include relocation.” The Coyotes had a “plan in place to build a new arena in the City of Tempe,” but that plan was defeated in a public referendum last spring (SPORTSNET.ca, 3/16).
