Multiple firms vie for work on downtown Toledo arena

Lucas County received plenty of interest from companies that are vying to work on a proposed $82 million arena in downtown Toledo in the form of responses to the county's call for requests for qualifications.

Representatives from 31 potential contracting firms were shown the preferred site for an arena at Superior Street between Jefferson and Madison avenues and North Huron and North St. Clair streets during a nonmandatory meeting Nov. 15.

Requests for qualifications for architectural services and the facility operator were due to the county Nov. 22.

Six companies expressed interest in building the arena: Brisbin Brook Beynon, of Toronto; L Robert Kimball Associates, of Ebensburg, Pa.; URS Corp., of San Francisco; HOK Sport+Venue+Event, of Kansas City, Mo.; HNTB, also of Kansas City; and Global Entertainment, of Phoenix.

Companies that responded to requests for a facility operator include SMG of Philadelphia; Global Spectrum, Inc., of Philadelphia; International Facilities Group, of Northbrook, Ill., and Global Entertainment.

Requests for qualifications for construction manager are due to the county tomorrow.

Assistant County Administrator Bridget Kabat said a committee will review each of the qualifications and then forward a recommendation to the county commissioners.

In many cases, the national firms submitting information have indicated they would enter joint ventures with local businesses to build the facility.

Officials said the county is continuing to move forward in planning for the arena while it waits for the General Assembly to give its approval for the project's main source of funding: a 2 percentage-point increase in the county's current 8 percent hotel-motel tax.

If the hotel-motel tax increase is approved, the county expects that the additional revenue generated would cover more than half the cost of building the arena.