The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NHL not looking to expand, but area still has 2 expansion groups
Both want to put a pro hockey team in the northern suburbs.
The northern suburbs now have a second group looking to bring the National Hockey League back to the Atlanta area despite the league saying it isn’t looking to expand at this time.
Last week, former NHL player Anson Carter said he and partners want to land an expansion franchise and build an arena at North Point Mall in Alpharetta. Carter said his organization, the Alpharetta Sports and Entertainment Group, submitted a formal request to the NHL and has been talking to Commissioner Gary Bettman since 2019 about bringing an expansion team to metro Atlanta to replace the Thrashers and Flames franchises that never took hold in the city.
“I have no doubt that the best league in the world will thrive in its return to metro Atlanta,” Carter said in a March 12 news release.
Carter, an eight-year NHL veteran who now is a NBC Sports analyst, moved to Atlanta in 2009 and says his ASE ownership group would include Neil Liebman of Top Tier Sports, Peter Simon of Simon Sports and Aaron Zeigler of Zeigler Automotive Group.
The ASE Group is partnering with New York Life to potentially redevelop North Point Mall. The insurance company owns the 100-acre property and wants to base the proposed team at the site, Alan Rubenstein, a senior director with New York Life Real Estate Investors, said in a statement.
“We fully support ASE Group’s efforts to secure entitlements to redevelop the North Point property,” Rubenstein said. “We recognize and appreciate the support of many stakeholders in the City of Alpharetta (and) Fulton County.”
In 2022, Trademark Property Company, the builder hired to redevelop 83 acres of the mall property, was denied rezoning by Alpharetta City Council after weeks of friction over plans for apartments on the site. Trademark no longer is involved in the redevelopment project, said Kathi Cook, director of Alpharetta Economic and Community Development.
Cook confirmed that the city has had several meetings with Carter and his group to review possible plans for the site, but no proposals have been submitted for the public hearing process.
Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin says he believes his city is an ideal geographic location for the fan base of a pro hockey team, citing nearby Ga. 400 and the planned expansion of MARTA in north Fulton.
“I think it’s exciting,” Gilvin said. “The North Point corridor here in Alpharetta really is the perfect location. Hockey-attending fans typically live on the northern arc. Atlanta has shown that it’s a big sports city and ... it only makes sense when you see the success that mixed-use developments around the sporting and entertainment environment have had.”
Carter’s proposal faces competition from car dealership owner Vernon Krause, who has pitched a site further north along Ga. 400 in Forsyth County for a huge mixed-use development centered on a pro sports arena. His project, named The Gathering at South Forsyth, also is aiming to snag a NHL expansion team.
The Gathering plans include a $700 million arena near Cumming surrounded by rows of apartments, retail, offices, hotels and parking decks. The project likely would cost more than $2 billion, including the arena.
But that doesn’t include the substantial cost to the developer to establish a pro hockey franchise, assuming the NHL looks to expand. The cost of even landing an expansion team is likely to be at least $1 billion.
Forsyth leaders have signaled they’re prepared to chip in $390 million of public funds to help finance The Gathering project on one condition — landing an expansion franchise before getting any taxpayer money.
The Gathering team previously has said an 18,000-plus-seat arena would be viable even without an anchoring sports team, but it would have to compete with other large venues for concerts and events. ASM Global recently was hired to operate the Gathering’s proposed arena.
Bettman recently said “we don’t have expansion on the agenda right now,” but Atlanta is on the short-list of cities seen as contenders if the league chooses to add teams beyond its current 32-franchise roster. Other top options include Houston, Salt Lake City and Quebec City, Canada. Like Atlanta, Quebec formerly had an NHL franchise.
“The League appreciates Anson’s passion for bringing NHL hockey back to the Atlanta area, and he has certainly kept the subject on our radar screen for several years running,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said this week. “While, as we have made clear, we have no expansion-oriented process in place currently, it’s always good to know there is bona fide interest.”