Steve Ballmer is one step closer to building a new arena for his team after investing $100 million in the city of Inglewood as part of the arena development agreement with city officials from Inglewood. This amount is more than three times greater than what the Golden State Warriors invested in San Francisco in connection with the Chase Center.
Steve Ballmer takes one step closer toward new Clips' arena deal with $100M community investment for Inglewood https://t.co/eMUNyKxI7M
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) September 10, 2019
“We’re close to a residential neighborhood and we are being very mindful,” Ballmer told ESPN. “Investing well into the community, being a good citizen of the community. No homes need to get moved but we need to be a good neighbor.”
“I want it to be beautiful,” he added. “But I want it to be about basketball. I want it to be comfortable.”
It is the most substantial commitment of funding for community programs made in connection to a sports or entertainment venue in California. Almost $80 million of the total investment is going toward first-time homebuyers, affordable housing, and assistance to renters, while $12.75 million is going toward school and youth programs.
It’s not going to be just the arena. Ballmer said it is a “billion-dollar-plus” privately financed state-of-the-art arena. It would come with a team training facility, a sports medicine clinic, corporate headquarters, community courts, and an area with a giant big screen for fans to watch games outside. All of this will be located on 26 acres in the city of Inglewood.
“This is really a continuation of what Steve and Connie have invested in over the five years that I have known them,” Gillian Zucker, the Clippers’ president of business operations, said of Ballmer and his wife. “Which has really been about how do you tackle this idea of making the American dream available to all children and really addressing the poverty issue? In a community that we intend to call home, we have an opportunity to do something really powerful and impactful.”
H/T: ESPN
