Could Canes leave PNC Arena for new home in downtown Raleigh?

Should the Carolina Hurricanes remain at an improved PNC Arena? Or should the professional hockey team move to a yet-to-be-identified downtown stadium?

Raleigh, Wake County, and business and tourism organizations will soon convene a group to find out, said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.

“There are going to be a lot of changes coming, especially around the PNC Arena area,” Baldwin said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “And this committee needs to look at (whether) that’s the right place to continue to support.

“Should we continue to put money into renovations? What should we do five years from now? Ten years from now?” she said. “How do we make sure the Hurricanes have a home they can be proud of and, also, (are) there other options?”

The Raleigh Chamber of Commerce should lead the group, Baldwin added, noting that the recent distribution of tourism dollars for the arena calls for the city and county to do a long-term study of it and other options.

If community leaders consider replacing PNC Arena with a new stadium in downtown Raleigh, the project will likely find itself competing against Downtown South, a proposed, massive sports and entertainment complex.

A five-year deal

The Hurricanes and the Centennial Authority, which oversees the arena, agreed in May on terms for a five-year lease extension that would keep the team at PNC Arena through 2029.

While that extension has yet to be finalized — the team and the authority continue to exchange drafts — both parties agreed the additional time should be used to determine the future of the arena.

“The long-term goal is to do the development around the arena,” Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon said in May. “Or it gives us time to work on something (else) for the long term, whatever that is.”

The city and county approved the annual distribution of $9 million in hotel and restaurant tax money to the arena through 2029 in October. Future funding was contingent upon a joint city and county study of future arena options, they said.

“That’s the reason we’re working on this five-year extension instead of a 25-year extension,” arena authority chairman Tom McCormick said Wednesday. “The idea was to have people determine whether we need a brand spanking new arena downtown or stay where PNC is now and spend a significant amount of money to upgrade PNC.

“The business about the Chamber of Commerce is news to me,” he said. “I have no comment on that.”

The Centennial Authority is scheduled to have its quarterly meeting Thursday. McCormick said the lease extension is not ready for approval.

Development at PNC

The study group would assess what would have to happen to modernize PNC Arena and the area around it, while also exploring whether to build a replacement arena downtown or elsewhere.

Both have their disadvantages. Adding restaurants and bars around the arena would require N.C. State University to sacrifice football parking spots, something the university has been unwilling to support before. New athletics director Boo Corrigan, however, has expressed interest in how development around the arena and Carter-Finley Stadium could benefit the school.

“Everybody loves tailgating at N.C. State games,” Baldwin said. “When you go to a Hurricanes playoff game, people love tailgating and being out there.

“But what we are seeing across the country is people want that experience where they park, go to a restaurant, a bar, hang out and go to the game,” she said. “Everybody at the table is going to have to decide: Is that something you can do at PNC?”

A downtown stadium

Building elsewhere would be astronomically expensive both to buy desirable land and construct an arena. Milwaukee’s new NBA arena, which opened in 2018, cost $525 million. That would also leave N.C. State with a decision: stay at PNC Arena as the only tenant, move to the new arena or construct an arena of its own on Centennial Campus.

But downtown Raleigh has been the primary alternative discussed if the Hurricanes move out of PNC.

“Now where downtown has yet to be determined,” Baldwin said. “People, at some points, have mentioned the Red Hat Amphitheater site. It’s a small site. It would require a street closure. So would that be under consideration? I don’t know.”

The amphitheater was always meant to be temporary, a placeholder for future expansion of the Raleigh Convention Center. The Dix Park Master Plan proposes a 7,000 seat amphitheater as an alternative to Red Hat.

“If that could be a shared facility (with the convention center) I think that’s something we would have to consider,” Baldwin said. “But, again, I think we all need to be flexible with the options.”

Downtown South

But there’s also Downtown South, the massive sports and entertainment district planned for a mile outside the downtown core.

John Kane, of Kane Realty Corp., and Steve Malik, owner of the North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC, want to transform 140 acres near South Saunders Street, Interstate 40 and South Wilmington Street into a new southern entryway into downtown. There are plans for housing, stores, restaurants and hotels — anchored by an outdoor stadium.

The Raleigh City Council approved a controversial rezoning late last year that allowed developers to close on the last 140 acres of the project. And developers are seeking tax increment grant funding to help cover proposed amenities including affordable housing, green stormwater infrastructure and the stadium itself.

Baldwin said she isn’t aware of any conversations about a hockey stadium being part of the project.

“We’ve talked about a soccer stadium,” Baldwin said. “Is somewhat of a shared facility feasible? I don’t know. It’s much easier to share basketball and hockey. I don’t see how you would share a stadium with soccer and hockey.”

“That would be for people smarter than me to decide and see if that is feasible,” she said.

Bonner Gaylord, managing director of operations for Kane Realty, did not respond to a text message from The News & Observer.

If Downtown South continues to move forward and a new arena is deemed the best option for the Hurricanes, Raleigh and others will have to decide if downtown can support two major sports venues.

“That’s going to have to be part of the study,” Baldwin said. “Let’s face it, building a new arena would be a substantial amount of money. So we will have to make choices.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Could Canes leave PNC Arena for new home in downtown Raleigh?."

Anna Roman

The News & Observer

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Anna Roman is a service journalism reporter for the News & Observer. She has previously covered city government, crime and business for newspapers across North Carolina and received many North Carolina Press Association awards, including first place for investigative reporting.