The public closing standard
A fair deal.
On one page.
The public outcomes to secure before the final commitments take effect.
Eight public tests
| Test | The requirement | Anchor & drafting guard |
|---|---|---|
| Affordable exposure | A complete cost plan and public limits by government, year and purpose. | SB 1501 §5 (State issuance waits on executed agreements and “binding and substantial” City and County commitments) and §3(4) (the $365M is a declared intention); the August 12 sheet’s Public Funding Contribution (City up to $120M, County up to $88M, State up to $365M) and its Exhibit D annual maxima. Guard: limits by government, year and purpose; City commitments conditioned on actual issuance; no maintenance label, fee credit or change order reopening them. |
| New private consideration | Committed private cash and dependable payments for the rights granted. | The sheet’s rent of $3,170,000 a year, escalated by CPI-W or 3%, whichever is less, and its $3,000,000 Property Tax Offset Payment growing 5%; Development Agreement §§31.2.3–31.2.4 (Project naming and 50% royalties); Parking Agreement §8.4 (the fee on invoiced non-event parking). Guard: commencement, recipients and security stated; credits counted once; new commercial rights expressly authorized. |
| Buildable project | Defined scope, completion funds, overrun allocation and independent draw checks. | The sheet’s Renovation Budget, “estimated at $573,000,000 (as itemized and shown in Exhibit A),” where Exhibit A reads “NTD: Estimated Renovation Budget to be attached”; SB 1501 §5(4) (approved scope, schedule and budget) and §6(1)(c) (the authority pays no overruns except modifications it requests after final approval). Guard: the itemized exhibit attached and reconciled; “authority-requested” means authority-initiated; certified draws and a private top-up. |
| Continuous team commitment | The actual franchise bound, with adequate security and workable remedies. | Exclusive Site Agreement §1.3 (no relocation except to the Arena or Memorial Coliseum without City consent), §1.4 (continuous operations, ending on a §3.3 franchise sale) and §4.5 (the TBI backstop covers only repayment of the City Contribution); SB 1501 §6(1)(d) remedies “at a minimum.” Guard: bind the franchise entity, not only the management entity; assumption on any transfer; security sized to exposure. |
| Preserved public rights | Title, lawful authority, usable audits and specifically priced claim releases. | Arena Operating Lease §§5.4 and 10.2 (maintenance and first-class obligations), §10.14 (Records), §11.6 (Confidentiality) and §14 (arbitration); Lease Exhibit G item 40 (the $100,000,000 JPMorgan Chase deed of trust). Guard: a no-novation recital plus express survival of accrued claims; audit with copies; the deed of trust released or subordinated. |
| Sustainable operations | Funded maintenance, reserves, tenant access and workable default/exit economics. | Lease §10.9 (Capital Improvements and the City Contribution); the sheet’s Maintenance and Repairs row (“at its cost and expense”) and Exhibit D; the Coliseum Operating Agreement’s booking preference (§4.1.2), shared services (§4.9) and profit split. Guard: operator obligations paid first; reserves owned and tested early; the Coliseum operatorship priced separately. |
| Enforceable public purpose | Labor, community, accessibility and neighborhood obligations with payers and remedies. | The sheet’s Community Benefits Agreement(s) and its Exhibit B, still “subject to ongoing City review and community feedback”; County Resolution 2026-050 conditions. Guard: a payer, beneficiary, measure and remedy for each commitment; a label or a maximum donation is not delivery. |
| Complete public approval | Reconciled intergovernmental deal, material documents, fiscal analysis and deviations. | SB 1501 §6(2)(a) (the State’s comparables review); Resolution 37750 (the nonbinding sheet, as amended); the proposed 30-day contract review and 14-day financial report rule, which still requires adoption; the December 17 vote target and December 31 documents. Guard: the complete suite with redlines against operative text, an exceptions memo, a fiscal analysis and time to read them. |
Conditions precedent at closing
Each item is sourced to the enrolled statute, the adopted sheet or the 2024 exhibits; none is a price.
- SB 1501 §5 satisfied in order: executed agreements meeting §6, an approved scope, schedule and budget, and the City and County commitments, without a circular condition that bonds exist before their prerequisites.
- Exhibit A attached: the itemized Renovation Budget behind the $573 million, independently reconciled, replacing “NTD: Estimated Renovation Budget to be attached.”
- Financing disclosed: the source of the City’s $120 million named, with legal borrowing authority, pledges, tax treatment and worst-case repayment published (Requirement 10).
- Tax treatment modeled: any PILOT compared with an independently calculated parcel-level tax model, with beneficiaries and a start date (Requirement 21).
- No claim released by accident: any resolution of the Lease §§5.4 and 10.2 maintenance claim adopted by its own resolution, expressly not a novation, with estoppel certificates exchanged and no release of other accrued claims (Requirement 24).
- Title cleared: the $100,000,000 deed of trust (Trustor Trail Blazers Inc., Beneficiary JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.; Lease Exhibit G, item 40) released or subordinated, and lender cure rights defined (Requirement 31).
- Public purpose and clocks written: the Community Benefits Agreement(s) executed with payer and remedy named, and SB 1501 §4’s transfer period, which runs to the later of lease expiry and debt retirement, addressed in the term (Requirements 37 and 44).
Sources: Enrolled SB 1501 · August 12 City term sheet · Arena Operating Lease approval exhibit · The closing standard
As of September 28, 2026, the adopted terms are a negotiating proposal. The public funding framework describes $573 million for renovation and up to $288.6 million of continuing support before financing. Neither a maintenance damages value nor a universal market-price floor is established.