Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon made some news last week with an interview with the Triangle Business Journal, wherein he mentioned a strong desire for a Downtown Arena:
“…we have a challenge, which is: we’re not downtown – and there’s not a list of successful nondowntown arenas.”

Yup.  Downtown arenas in an entertainment and hospitality milieu offer a totally different event experience than we see at PNC Arena.
With numerous entertainment venues, restaurants, bars, parking garages, residences, and offices just steps from a DT arena, “going to the game” has the potential to be a much richer experience.

I have only been out of town for two Canes games:  Tampa and Columbus.
Tampa was very good.  Sprawling city, and a bit more car-dependent.  Took my sister and her son to the game and had a good time.  Easy in, easy out.  Great courtyard entertainment between the parking garage and Amalie Arena.
Columbus was great, really great.  I stayed overnight in a hotel with a restaurant and a bar about 800 feet from the arena, and walked past multiple eateries on the way to the arena.  My niece lives outside Columbus, and came in to go to the game with me.
Before the game, we had a bite to eat at an outdoor café, across the street from the Columbus Nationwide Arena.
The whole quick visit was cool enough, with easy bus service to and from the airport, I will do it again.

On the other hand, we treated my cousin’s family to a Canes home game over the weekend.   Canes STM perk:  Vouchers for a few extra game tickets.
Canes and Coyotes.
They parked at Westchase, and rode in with us.  Saved one parking pass.  Their granddaughter wanted a bite to eat, and there was nothing near the arena parking lot, so her dad drove her off to get her a sandwich. (Let’s avoid discussion of PNC Arena food for now.)
We wanted to eat after the game, and had to drive two miles to find a place to eat.
And, for future development of amenities, the PNC Arena site is pretty much landlocked, bound by Carter-Finley, Wade Avenue, Edwards Mill Rd.
Maybe construction of a parking garage or two, with ground level amenities, and some surface space freed up for other development would help?  Or, maybe the amenities would only become extensions of PNC and used only for event days?

So…
I have been muttering for recreational purposes with some acquaintances about a downtown arena.
(It’s always easy when you are spending some other guys’ monies.)

A few locations come to mind.
1.  Central Prison off Western Blvd.
Made me grin, but there it is.  Prying it away from the State could be difficult, costly, and unrewarding.
Assemblage of acreage is done.  One large parcel.  Acquisition and redevelopment?  Much higher hurdle.
But, fun to talk about.
40 acres is enough.  For a large arena, courtyard, parking garages, and some ancillary development.  Total redevelopment with no adjacent amenities.
But, access?  Overworked Western Blvd.  Reopen Mountford Street at the RR bridge in Boylan Heights?  Bilyeu Blvd arching past Governor Morehead School?
And, maybe, fantasy of fantasy, an excursion train platform on the RR tracks on the north side.
Central Prison Site?  Confidence is low.

2.  Cargill site? 
2 (a). Penmarc site?
Hmmm.  Total redevelopment, without any real adjacent amenities.
But, great access off I-40 for either one.
Still, some assemblage required.
Environmental challenges.  Maybe a water feature?

3.  My fave.
Cary Towne Center mall.
Stick a fork in it.  It is done.  Pull the plug.  88 acres, including Belks and Dillard stores.
Access from multiple sides.
Complemented by The Fenton across Carytowne Blvd.
Food and drink on site, and adjacent.
High ground.  No stream buffers.
A 6-8 story hotel or condo building, or both, one with a restaurant on top with a view for miles and miles?  At 650-700′ above seal level, that food and drink would be able to see clear past Raleigh, and probably to Jordan Lake.
We dodged the Ikea bullet, thank goodness.  What a waste that would have been.
And, Tom Dundon and Top Golf got shot down, which was a good thing considering it was NOT a contender for long term “highest and best use” of this premier parcel of property in the heart of Cary.
Additionally, he should have some familiarity with the site.

Yeah.  I like the idea of a world class arena and hospitality and entertainment development there.