Seat sale a no-go, Katz Group says

The Katz Group has rejected a proposal to sell a limited number of seats to help fund the new arena in downtown Edmonton.

"We believe we understand the model well and we've concluded it just simply doesn't work," Katz Group executive vice-president Bob Black told council Wednesday.

A number of councillors agreed with Black which means the idea will likely not go ahead.

The proposal was presented to council last month by the Stadium Capital Financing Group.

Under the plan, as many as 2,000 extra seats would be added to the arena when itis built.

Those extra seats would then be sold to buyers for upwards of $400,000 each, which would give them full ownership rights; they could even resell them on the open market.

Council was told the proposal could raise as much as $700 million, meaning the $450 million arena could be built without using any taxpayer money.