When new ownership buys into a pro sports team, they’re often the ones that have to kickstart venue projects. The Hornets’ new-ish majority owners -- Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, who acquired majority ownership from Michael Jordan in fall 2023 -- bought into a very different situation in which two major venue projects were already well in motion, the two-year, $245 million renovation of Spectrum Center plus the Hornets Performance Center project that should commence this spring.
For an organization looking to reinvent itself -- and a reminder that I’m a longtime Charlottean and not out on a limb saying the second edition of the Hornets hasn’t taken off the way the first one did before moving to New Orleans in 2002 -- improved real estate is a solid starting point.
“They’re excited about it, they’re very involved in the process,” said Donna Julian, Hornets Sports & Entertainment’s chief venues officer, of the new owners. “They really wanted to make sure that we come up with a world class facility and enhance our food and beverage experience, our guest experience. It just is a great time for our organization as we move forward.”
I was speaking to Julian in the First Horizon Bank Theater Box, one of the new premium areas added during the renovation. That project began last summer, has slowed during the NBA season and will pick up speed again this summer (Perkins&Will is doing the design work, and a Turner/D.A. Everett tag team is doing the building with CAA ICON overseeing both projects).
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