PITTSBURGH Penguins, architect disagree over cost to build new arena

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Los Angeles architect has three words for Pittsburgh Penguins officials who say the team cannot build a state-of-the-art arena for $150 million to $160 million: Yes, you can.
Michael Shapiro, head of Sports Finance & amp; Management Group, said the Penguins are wrong in saying the arena will cost at least $209 million and upward of $270 million once infrastructure and other land costs are added in.
Team president Ken Sawyer said last week that the SFMG plan is unrealistic, and on Tuesday challenged Shapiro to put details of the arena and how it can be financed on paper "so it can be examined and verified."
"I want to make sure that everyone understands that the Penguins would be as happy as anyone with a total project cost of $150 million to $160 million and we would be further delighted if it were financed privately in such a way that the Penguins can remain viable and can be competitive," Sawyer said.
Shapiro's group floated a plan earlier this month to get the National Hockey League team the new arena they want, with mostly private financing. Government officials have balked because the $278 million plan favored by the Penguins would require about $171 million in tax money, a figure state and Allegheny County officials say they can't handle.
Been done before
But Shapiro said Nationwide Arena in Columbus and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., prove his point. The privately funded NHL arenas cost about $156 million and $170 million, respectively, Shapiro said.
"You don't have to know a lot about hockey to build these buildings," Shapiro said. "You have to know about buildings. That I know a lot about, and that's how I know it can be done for $150 million."
Sawyer has said a deal like Shapiro proposes also wouldn't help the team because the Penguins would need to control the building's revenues, which might not happen if the building is built using mostly private funds.