'Canes new lease to runs through 2044, includes $800M investment in arena district

The Hurricanes and Centennial Authority's new lease agreement for PNC Arena, set to "last through 2044," outlines several key provisions designed to “benefit both the Hurricanes and the Raleigh community," according to Shelby Swanson of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. The extended lease “removes all termination rights,” ensuring the Hurricanes “cannot relocate unless both the authority and the team fail to discuss the arena’s future in good faith by 2039.” Starting in 2029, the Hurricanes will pay the Centennial Authority $4.5M per season, increasing to $5.5M over the next 15 years, replacing their "current rent-free status." Additionally, the Hurricanes will invest $10M in a sportsbook, office upgrades and premium seating. The authority has committed to spend $300M from tourism taxes to arena improvements. Additionally, Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has been granted the right to “develop 80 acres of land surrounding PNC Arena," starting "with 20 acres to be ‘mutually agreed’” with the Centennial Authority and will see a "minimum investment of $800 million over the next 20 years." The first phase of development, which will begin after N.C. State’s 2025 football season at adjacent Carter-Finley Stadium is complete, “includes a mix of retail, office space, residential units, and a hotel" and is "expected to be completed in 2030.” Development of the mixed-use district around the arena "will be led" by Pacific Elm Properties, a Dallas-based company majority-owned by Dundon Capital Partners, Dundon’s private-equity firm. Swanson noted Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin “compared the plan to The Battery Atlanta.” The announcement also "offered more details" on the live music venue Dundon promised while the deal was being negotiated, a 4,300-seat event space operated by national concert promoter Live Nation that the Hurricanes (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 6/27).