Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce plans this week for a 12,000-seat arena for DePaul University’s basketball teams to be built near downtown Chicago, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
Emanuel’s plan to build a basketball arena near McCormick Place that would double as a home for mid-sized shows would be built with $125 million in public funds — $55 million in tax-increment financing and $70 million in hotel taxes, sources with knowledge of the plan told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The team currently plays in the 17,500 seat AllState Arena, which opened in 1980.
There are also plans to build two mega hotels on the property in the hopes of aggressively growing convention and meeting business in Chicago.
