Cavs Return To The Q Deal

The main roadblock to revamping Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena has been removed and the Cavaliers have confirmed they are ready to jump back into the $140 million deal which would see the team financing half of the renovations.

Courtesy of the Cleveland Cavaliers – Quicken Loans Arena Rendering
An artist rendering of what Quicken Loans Arena will look like from the street after its $140 million renovation.

Owner Dan Gilbert expressed his frustration with delays in the renovation process by pulling out of the Cavs’ funding of the project last month. 

Although renovations were supposed to get under way in June, opposition groups were successful in delaying the process and getting a court ruling to force a ballot referendum to be made. This meant that completion of the project before the 2018-19 season was highly unlikely. 

Now, though, Greater Cleveland Congregations, which previously said that public money should instead be focused on supporting Clevelanders suffering from lack of resources, has decided that Cuyahoga County sufficiently expressed commitment to mental health and substance abuse crisis centers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. GCC has dropped its demands for a ballot referendum, and now the deal appears to be on again.

“We are excited to confirm our renewed capital commitment of over $70 million to help renovate and transform Quicken Loans Arena – a tremendous publicly owned asset for our community. At the same time, we’re very pleased to extend the Cavaliers lease with our landlord, Gateway Economic Development Corporation, for seven additional years at The Q until 2034. In other words, the Cavs will be a tenant at The Q in downtown Cleveland for at least the next 17 seasons,” a statement from Cavs and The Q CEO Len Komoroski provided to the Plain Dealer read. 

The Cavs have said the upgrades to the arena will create 2,500 jobs, increase tax revenues for the city and put Cleveland in the running for hosting a prospective All-Star game.

The team will now scramble to begin construction within the month so it can still be eligible to host the NBA’s All-Star game in 2020 or 2021, the paper said.