Stone Planning has been hired by a franchise ownership group looking to develop and operate stadiums in multiple US markets that could potentially host professional
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Stone Planning has been hired by MV Ventures, developer of the 200-acre Viking Lakes in Eagan, MN, home of the Minnesota Vikings’ headquarters and training camp
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David Stone presents to the 2020 Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Facilities Conference. The session, titled “Are Multipurpose Music Venues the New Arenas?” addressed the growth and characteristics of entertainment venues in mixed-use districts, their benefits and uses, and detailed planning and partnership terms between a city and developer. Appearing on the panel were Don Graham of the Oak View Group and Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, and Stone Planning client Rita Ramirez of the City of La Vista (NE), which is building a new indoor/outdoor entertainment venue with a private developer.
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Stone Planning and The Rooney Sports and Entertainment Group have been hired by a private development team to define recommended sports- and entertainment-related offerings as part of a mixed-use development in New York. Our work will include a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of the existing entertainment industry in the New York City area, including the presence of facilities and their characteristics, promoters, operators, and other stakeholders and their relationships. We will also interview these stakeholders and provide our own input based on our experience regarding recommendations for facilities, which could include arena, theater, amphitheater, club, and/or other offerings.
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Stone Planning has been hired by a confidential private developer and potential facility operator to study opportunities for development of a new indoor/outdoor amphitheater in a Midwestern city. The study will analyze the local and regional competitive environment for entertainment venues, potential sites, and will provide recommendations regarding facility orientation, capacities, and other major physical characteristics. Based on these recommendations, we will forecast the facility's future usage and operations. Later phases of work could include working with government entities for further facility planning and funding efforts. Stone Planning has been involved in two similar indoor/outdoor entertainment venues that are being developed, in Virginia Beach and La Vista, Nebraska.
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Stone Planning has been hired by the developer of Westfield, Indiana's Grand Millennium Center to identify potential opportunities for a conference/meetings facility and entertainment uses in the mixed-use project outside of Indianapolis. For a conference facility, we will analyze the competitive environment, interview various stakeholders, and provide facility recommendations, followed by forecasts of the recommended facility's operations. We will also identify any potential opportunities at the site for an entertainment venue such as a music club. The Grand Millennium Center is an approximately $200-million, 66-acre project that has been approved for a civic center, YMCA, health care facility, hotel, residential, and office development, as well as the conference/meetings facility, and is near the 400-acre Grand Park Sports Campus.
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Stone Planning has been hired by the City of Mount Ayr, Iowa to provide a feasibility study for community recreation facility needs. Options to be considered will include a renovation of the city's existing pool, replacement with a new pool, development of an indoor/outdoor pool with indoor fitness offerings, and a new pool with a comprehensive fitness/wellness center. The study will include a local market analysis, review of previous research and surveys, site analyses, forecasts of future operations for the options, and recommendations and conclusions regarding the various options.
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Stone Planning and The Rooney Sports and Entertainment Group have been hired by The Penn Film Group to assist in the planning of improvements to the historic Heinz Hall. The Penn Film Group, which specializes in the development, production, and marketing of feature films, plans to utilize space within the theater as a sound studio and for scoring, production, and other uses, as well as an event venue. Heinz Hall, the home of the Pittsburgh Symphony, opened in 1927 and has approximately 2,700 seats.
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Stone Planning has been hired by the St. Tammany Corporation, the economic development arm of Louisiana's St. Tammany Parish, to study the feasibility of a new, multipurpose event center in the Parish. The study will include a local market analysis and an analysis of the local and regional competitive environment for facilities and events, identification of potential users such as minor-league sports, entertainment, community, and other events, and analyses of case-study facilities in similar markets. We will also consider multiple sites within the Parish, which is in New Orleans' North Shore. Based on these analyses, we will recommend a viable development and site, and then project its future usage and economics. We will also analyze a set of potential financing methods for the facility and identify any that are viable in Louisiana.
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David Stone of Stone Planning was part of an industry panel leading off the 2019 Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities conference in San Diego, with Ryan Walsh of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, Dr. Judith Grant Long of the University of Michigan, Kevin Austin and Adam Shaw of WT Partnership, and Stacey Jones of Crawford Architects. The panel addressed the industry from operational, economic, design, technology, and other perspectives. See below for the white paper issued by the panel participants.
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