[wburg]

I have heard the same thing--there are property owners who are hesitant to lease to new tenants because they assume an arena will let them charge triple the rent.

An arena on the western half of the mall just seems counterproductive--it would demolish the active, revenue-generating part (the theater, Macy's, food court and auto dealership) and we'd be left with the semi-vacant boarded-up middle part (the 5th-7th Street stretch.) The earlier comment about a western-half plan mentioned demolishing the Holiday Inn, which would probably also require demolishing the parking structure across from it, which seems counterproductive if the idea is to avoid demolishing parking spaces--in addition to the futility of demolishing a hotel just to build another hotel.

The connectivity issue Ozone mentions is also there--theoretically, if you narrowed down J and L Street, with street-facing retail and better sidewalks, you could maintain a decent connection between "the Kay" and Old Sacramento, but it still adds two blocks to the walk vs. walking through Downtown Plaza.