Arena Land Swap Under Study

As reported by the Sacramento Business Journal, Cal Expo leaders agreed Friday to study whether the three-way land swap proposal for an arena would work for the state fairgrounds financially and physically.

The Cal Expo Board of Directors accept the so-called evaluation agreement with Sacramento Convergence LLC, a group led by Sacramento developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor. The board also agreed on a timeline for Convergence to pay Cal Expo about $120,000 for the consultants who will study the plan for Cal Expo, said Brian May, Cal Expo assistant general manager.

In the agreement is to study and evaluate” the proposal to determine whether it “will provide the state with the highest and most certain return for the sale of its property and is in Cal Expo’s best interest, provided that the study and evaluation are at no cost to Cal Expo.”

The Kamilos plan would sell the Cal Expo site to Convergence, transfer the city of Sacramento’s North Natomas property to the state for the future location of the state fair, and develop a sports and entertainment complex on city-owned land at the intermodal site next to the downtown railyard.

The Sacramento City Council entered into exclusive negotiations with the developers in late April, agreeing to a four-month exclusive negotiating period.

The developers envision that the new home of the Sacramento Kings would open in June 2014.