Virginia Beach Kills Arena Deal Over Funding

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. (CelebrityAccess) — The City of Virginia Beach has ended a deal to build an arena in the city, at least for now.

On Tuesday, the Virginia Beach City Council voted to end an agreement to build a new arena on a property adjacent to the Virginia Beach Convention Center over a funding deadline.

“We terminated the agreement last night. I would sit back and say to if they bring the documents completely filled out, and if they were to fulfill the original agreement that was made, then I would feel comfortable bringing it back to council. And I believe the council would support it,” Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms told the Virginian-Pilot.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, the City, and Mid-Atlantic Arena LLC, the developer of the proposed arena, disagreed on the terms of the funding deadline.

Andrea Kilmer, president of Mid-Atlantic Arena, and Valerie Wilkinson, the company’s chief financial officer, argued to the city council that all of the required paperwork regarding funding for the project had been deliveredto the city attorney’s office and that they were waiting for direction from council members.

“Obviously, we spent a lot of money, and if they are trying to say we can’t close because of a technicality, that is disingenuous,” Kilmer said, per the Virginian-Pilot. “As far as we are concerned, we have complied with the development agreement.”

Both Sessoms and Kilmer declined to comment on the specifics of the financing, stating that it was proprietary information, but Sessoms had previously noted that the developer had not deposited the full sum of private investment money required to lock down a loan from the city, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

While the deal is dead for now, Sessoms hinted that the city would be open to reviving the project.

“I believe if they could come back with I’s dotted and the T’s crossed and everything in place, perhaps it could still move forward,” Sessoms told the newspaper.

As well, Sessoms said he and Mayor Louis Jones participated in a conference call with executives from AEG, the company that would operate the proposed arena.

“We made our requirement known pretty clearly,” Sessoms told the newspaper. “I hope that they will move forward with what we requested.”