Arctos, an investing business in KKR Solutions that seeks to partner with the exceptional leaders in sports to help them grow and unlock their vision, recently announced a strategic partnership with the RVX Ventures (‘RVX’), a real estate development platform specializing in mixed-use entertainment districts, and the Magellan Development Group (‘Magellan’), a national leader in urban mixed-use real estate, to launch a new platform targeting the rapidly growing sports-anchored development sector.
Neyland Entertainment District
‘businesswire.com’ stated that the platform’s inaugural project is the Neyland Entertainment District, a new development spanning the Tennessee River waterfront adjacent to the 1,01,915-seat Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (the ‘University’), US.
The Neyland Entertainment District’s nucleus will be the identities and priorities of the communities it serves.
Arctos is a team of business-builders, investors, operators, and data scientists which provides growth capital and liquidity solutions, differentiated thought partnership and purpose-built value creation capabilities. Its strategies include Arctos Sports which partners with the premium sports owners and the franchises.
Arlington (US)-based RVX Ventures is a real estate development platform focused on mixed-use entertainment districts and design-forward urban multifamily projects in the high-growth markets across the United States. The firm’s leadership team has played key roles in the development, ownership, operation, and activation of several nationally recognized entertainment districts and mixed-use destinations around the country.
Founded in 1996, the Magellan Development Group is a national leader in urban mixed-use real estate – investing in, developing and managing premier properties across the United States. Having delivered over $8 billion in total development value across residential, hotel, office, and retail projects, Magellan prides itself on being a builder of neighborhoods that transcend the traditional single-asset development.
Public-Private Partnership
Structured as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the university the development will feature approximately 100,000 square feet of entertainment space alongside a 24-story hotel and residences along with a private members club designed to enhance the gameday experience while creating a year-round destination for the Knoxville community. Arctos is the majority equity investor and is participating as a general partner alongside a sponsor team led by RVX, Magellan and Dixon Greenwood.
Dynamic Entertainment District
Commented Chad Hutchinson, Partner, Arctos, “The Neyland Stadium is an iconic venue in college sports and we’re grateful to the University of Tennessee for their shared vision and collaboration in bringing this dynamic entertainment district to life. We see significant opportunity at the convergence of live sports and real estate and we wanted to be more than a capital provider in this space. RVX and Magellan have the track records and the operational knowhow to deliver on complex projects like this and together we can define how sports-anchored districts are conceived, built and operated.”
Year-round Destinations
‘businesswire.com’ further stated that the universities, the professional sports organizations and the Municipalities are increasingly seeking to transform the areas surrounding their venues into year-round destinations. Delivering these districts at scale requires significant capital, large-scale development expertise and hands-on experience programming and operating the entertainment venues, capabilities this partnership is designed to bring together under a single platform.
Sports-anchored Entertainment Districts
Added Taylor Gray, Principal, RVX Ventures, “We believe sports-anchored entertainment districts represent one of the most compelling opportunities in experiential real estate today. With Arctos and Magellan as partners we are building a platform with the expertise, relationships and capital needed to deliver transformative projects for the universities, the teams and the communities across United States.”
Community Identities-Priorities
The Neyland Entertainment District is the first project for what the partners intend to be a national platform pursuing opportunities across the collegiate and professional sports landscape. The partnership’s model spans sourcing, capitalization, development, and operations allowing the team to take projects from concept through execution under a single structure. While the platform will operate at a national scale each project is designed to reflect the identity and priorities of the community it serves.
‘Reshaping Neighborhoods’
Remarked J.R. Berger, President, Magellan Development Group, “This project will be one of the great sports-anchored destinations in the country. It has it all: A passionate fanbase, legendary venue and a university committed to doing something transformative. Magellan has spent three decades reshaping neighborhoods and creating places that endure and we’re excited to bring those same principles to the sports and entertainment space alongside RVX and Arctos. The Neyland Entertainment District will set a new standard for what development adjacent to major sports assets can look like.”
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