It may not be the "world's most famous arena" (it's really just a marketing slogan), but it will be the "world's most expensive arena" (although the Knicks might note its "transformation" costs almost as much as Barclays). It may not be the "Mecca" of basketball, but it will be the "Taj Mahal" (so says Avery Johnson). Get it?
The Nets are indeed promoting that Barclays will be the world's first billion dollar arena. In a city of big, bigger and biggest, that could catch on. "All together, interest, taxes, everything, it's a billion dollars," Bruce Ratner told an NY1 reporter earlier this month. (In 2009, the official estimate was $904 million, but that didn't include some infrastructure.)
The latest publication to latch onto the "billion dollar arena" is Digital Construction Magazine, which did a cover story on Barclays. "Between the cost of the land, paying for union labor, meeting environmental regulations and working around subway lines underneath the site, it is estimated that the project will cost a total of $1 billion before it is completed," writes Logan Broyles.
- The NBA Comes to Brooklyn - Under Construction - Logan Broyles - Digital Construction