$575-Mil Project Skates Through Vote, But Still on Thin Ice

PHOENIX- After a five-hour, tension-filled meeting with a deadlocked council evenly split for and against extending a stadium district for the Phoenix Coyotes, Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross broke the logjam and voted to extend the deadline. The Ellman Companies, which purchased the team last month, now has until Sept. 4 to hammer out a deal with the city in the $5750-million redevelopment of the former Los Arcos Mall site.

The Los Arcos Stadium District, a public entity that will provide up to $200 million in public funding for the redevelopment project, was set to expire today. If it had team owner Steve Ellman would surely have either moved to team to another location in the Valley or out of the state altogether, but now he’s got seven months to reach an agreement with the city.

Three council members voted against extending the district, angered over months of delays, Ellman reticence in turning over financial information and the terms of the deal that’s currently on the table. But three council members and mayor Manross voted in favor of the extending the deadline, reasoning that the city can always turn down the deal in the future.