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Who will pay for the $400M LSU arena? Project expert Engquist explains
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BATON ROUGE - Well-known Baton Rouge developer John Engquist is passionate about the LSU arena coming to fruition.
"I've never seen a development project that is as important to the future of Baton Rouge as this arena project is. It's so much more than an area. It's going to catalyze development on campus and off campus. This is a game changer for Baton Rouge," he said.
As the chair of the Tiger Athletic Foundation committee that helped pick the developer for the project, he knows the ins and outs of the project.
The long-discussed arena will be built near the corner of Nicholson Drive and Gourrier Avenue on the current LSU Golf Course.
Engquist said not only will there be a state-of-the-art entertainment venue in Baton Rouge — the entire project also includes entertainment and research districts, hotels, a new sports medicine facility from Our Lady of the Lake, and a revitalization of the River Center into a convention hub.
Officials have maintained both the PMAC and the River Center cannot be turned into the arena they envision.
"It's going to save a bunch of money because the city's not going to have to renovate the River Center," Engquist said. "You can go in there and spend $200 - $250 million on that River Center and still have an uncompetitive venue. It would be a mediocre venue."
Since it's announcement last year, there have been a lot of questions swirling about how the now projected $400 million project will be paid for. The original proposal was for $340 million.
"This arena is not costing LSU anything," Engquist said. "The developer is funding this arena."
Enqquist says though the build will be privately funded, the developers will essentially get their return on investment from the future revenue generated in the Economic Development District that surrounds it.
"We have put in place an EDD on LSU's campus," Engquist said. "We're in the process of putting together a sub-district there. Each of those entities will provide 1 cent to the developer and then at the point in time this gets signed up and it's real, then they'll ask the city for 2 cents."
But Engquist said it won't be taking any money from the city-parish.
"No, because there's nothing there," Engquist said. "There's a golf course that generates zero revenue, zero taxes, so there's nothing there. When you build the new arena, that will self-generate the revenue and these taxes."
Currently, there is no official agreement in place yet between TAF and the developer Oak View Group.
As we reported earlier this month, Oak View Group's former CEO was indicted for rigging bids to build the Moody Center in Austin, which is essentially the blueprint for LSU's arena. He has since stepped down.
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