The Golden State Warriors and GSW Arena have officially broken ground for Chase Center, the state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex being built in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. The ceremony, emceed by the host of Entertainment Tonight, Kevin Frazier, also included Warriors owner and CEO Joe Lacob, co-owner Peter Guber, president and chief operating officer Rick Welts, head coach Steve Kerr, forward Kevin Durant, San Francisco mayor Edwin M Lee, and Chase CEO of consumer banking Thasunda Duckett.
“Today marks a great day for our organization and the entire Bay Area,” said Welts at the ceremony on January 17. “Chase Center and the surrounding district will be a destination for the entire community and today’s ceremony celebrates the breaking of ground for a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex in San Francisco. We look forward to building a destination filled with energy and excitement for the entire Bay Area.”
Chase Center, which is scheduled to open for the start of the 2019/2020 NBA season, will play host to a variety of events, including concerts, family shows and conventions, in addition to Warriors basketball.
“Chase Center will make history, not only as the home of our beloved Warriors, but as the only 100% privately financed arena in the USA,” said Lee. “This is no small feat. Typically, the taxpayers are asked to pay for or subsidize professional sports facilities, or at least provide public land, but the Warriors are paying for this venue on land they purchased themselves.”
The 18,000-seat Chase Center will anchor a district of 11 acres of restaurants, cafes, offices, public plazas and other amenities the neighborhood currently lacks, along with a new five-and-a half-acre public waterfront park. Chase Center will be located on a major Muni Metro rail line with easy links to BART and other transit options. When complete, it will be the only privately financed facility of its kind built on private property in the modern era of professional sports.
Chase Center will be built on a vacant lot that has been slated for development since 1998. The team entered into an agreement to purchase the property in 2014, and has spent two years participating in a public planning process. The project won approval from all regulatory agencies and city commissions, including a unanimous vote at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Superior Court and, most recently, the California State Court of Appeals upheld the project, paving the way for the ground breaking.
