The Journal Communications building (left) and the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena properties are believed to be the first choice site for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena. One of the team’s new co-owners said Saturday that a new arena could generate $500 million to $1 billion in private investment downtown. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Wes Edens, one of the new co-owners of the Milwaukee Bucks, has seen what a new arena can do to rejuvenate downtowns in many midsize American cities.

And that's what he and his new ownership group have in mind for Milwaukee.

"The reality is you can go visit Pittsburgh, you can visit what's proposed for Sacramento, what exists in Los Angeles, and get a very tangible picture of what a vibrant downtown means," Edens said. "These centers can act as a real meeting place for people to come back and connect. It's not just a good idea, it's imperative if we are going to be successful in Milwaukee."

For the first time since he and his partners bought the Bucks for $550 million in April, Edens on Saturday articulated the vision he and his partners have for downtown Milwaukee.

Over the next five to 10 years, Edens, fellow owners Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan and the rest of the ownership group hope to attract between $500 million to $1 billion in additional development near the arena, all privately financed, in the form of a mixed-use development that includes new, multifamily housing, retail and, down the road, office space.

For now the main focus is the arena.

Edens says he envisions an arena with a capacity of 16,500 for basketball, somewhat smaller than the typical NBA arena, and with a design that can be reconfigured for more intimate events like concerts. He envisions a plaza that would serve as a gathering place for crowds gathered for public events or celebrations.

An architect has not yet been selected, he said, nor has a site been found.

"Although we will be the main tenant, we only play there 41 games, plus preseason and playoffs," Edens said. "The other objective is that it needs to be a great venue for concerts and other entertainment.

"The best arenas have upward of 300 events a year, and that plays a huge role in generating economic activity in the surrounding area, the city and the state. We think that's very important."

Should an arena be built and new development becomes a reality, it could be another shot in the arm for downtown Milwaukee.

Right now, downtown is in the midst of a makeover, with the planned $450 million Northwestern Mutual tower, the proposed $122 million Couture apartment tower complex, and the 17-story 833 East office building under construction at 833 E. Michigan St., among others.

To help make their vision a reality, Edens brought in a friend and big hitter in New York real estate in Michael Fascitelli, the former CEO of the Vornado Realty Trust. Before working at Vornado, Fascitelli managed the real estate practice of Goldman, Sachs and Co. Vornado, Edens said, is the largest landlord in New York City.

"Mike is a very good personal friend of mine and Marc," Edens said. "He is, in my view, the most talented real estate person that I know. After we bought the Bucks, he was the first person that I reached out to."

Fascitelli is an investor in the team and is advising Edens, Lasry and Dinan in coming up with a plan for Milwaukee.

"Obviously, we have an ownership group that is committed to trying to doing something that is world class," Fascitelli said Saturday.

"Having a great arena and a great facility is necessary but hopefully not sufficient," Fascitelli said. "I think if we can accomplish revitalizing or picking up the area around it, that would be an even greater objective that Wes, Marc and I all share."

The timetable remains ambitious, Edens said.

"You know it's all happening in real time," Edens said. "Right now we are working on a site and we are cautiously optimistic we will have something there in hand sooner than later."

Edens declined to detail what site the Bucks have in mind. But sources have told the Journal Sentinel that the franchise's preferred site remains the land owned by Journal Communications, publisher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the Milwaukee Theatre, or some iteration involving those properties.

If that site doesn't work out, there are other options, including land north of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and sites near N. 4th St., and W. Wisconsin Ave., and at N. 2nd and W. Michigan streets.

Once a site is selected, Edens said, work would begin immediately on a feasibility study to determine the economics of the project.

"And then we have to have an open and earnest discussion with government about a public-private partnership and how we go about funding this," Edens said.

"Ideally, those conversations will be early next year, with design and how to finance it by next spring. That gives us a fighting chance to have the arena three years from now."

The team's goal is to have the Bucks playing in the new arena for the 2017-'18 season.

Edens is well aware of the anti-tax sentiment and push-back expected from the public to any form of public financing for an arena for a team largely controlled by deep-pocket owners.

Lasry and Edens have committed $100 million toward a new arena. Former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl , who sold the team, has also said he would put $100 million toward an arena, and additional private investment could bring the total commitment to $300 million.

Once a financing plan is developed with more exact numbers, the right thing to do is "look at what is the appropriate way to get this done."

"If you step back, look, the team generates over the term of this arena's utilization... many tens of millions of dollars of direct tax benefits.

"While people can argue about what the impact is on the team and the community long term, you can't argue that there's not a team playing there that no one is paying taxes. That's not much of an argument."

Timing is important, too. Interest rates are low, Edens said.

"It seems likely to me there really is a constructive middle ground," he said of developing a financial plan.

"We want to build a great arena," Fascitelli added. "You do this once in a lifetime, right? We want to build a great arena with the appropriate design for what Milwaukee is. We are not going to build a spaceship, right? We will integrate the design of this arena into what we think is contextual to Milwaukee.

"That's the goal, if we can do it."