With the advent of a new NHL season, the Calgary Flames and the City of Calgary agreed to new talks about a new event centre..The announcement was made during a meeting of city council’s event centre committee on Wednesday..The two organizations reached a deal on a new home for the Flames in 2019, but it fell apart late last year when newly elected Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek insisted the Flames cover the costs for additional infrastructure — including solar panels — Flames brass said was not in the original deal..Majority Flames owner, Murray Edwards, then announced the team was “pulling the plug” on the deal, worth $650 million..In a news release Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation president and CEO John Bean called the new agreement the first step of moving forward..“All parties share a collective desire to see a new event centre constructed in Calgary. We look forward to discussions with the city to see if we can find an acceptable path forward,” Bean said..Neither announcement included identifying a timeline for the parties to reach a formal agreement, with the city saying it would,“take the time necessary to reach an agreement that will meet the city and CSEC’s needs.”.After the original deal was cancelled, the city said it would move ahead with the event centre, with or without the involvement of the Flames as partners..In May, council’s event centre committee appointed local businessmen to act as mediators between CSEC and the city. That group consisted of three people with backgrounds in commercial real estate development: John Fisher, CBRE executive vice-president; Guy Huntingford, NAIOP Calgary strategic director; and Phil Swift, Ayrshire Group executive chair..The work the three did has come to an end, said the city..The city hired CAA ICON, a consulting firm which specializes in public/private sports/entertainment venue deals, to represent it in the negotiations..“This new team has the right expertise to get the best outcome possible for Calgary,” said Coun. Sonya Sharp, who chairs the event centre committee..According to the CAA ICON website, the company “has managed the development of many of the most successful stadium and arena projects in the world and has experience in planning, activating, designing, constructing, and commissioning projects for MLS, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB franchises totaling nearly $40 billion, including over 2,000 consulting engagements by our Strategic Advisory Group.”
