TAILGATE CITY: The Carolina Hurricanes released images of a new development they’re planning next to their NHL arena, which includes tailgate suites for both hockey and North Carolina State men’s basketball. (Courtesy team)
Lenovo Center new name of 25-year-old arena
The Carolina Hurricanes have jumped on the mixed-use bandwagon, announcing this week a $1 billion entertainment district proposed next to their arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The massive project is tied to the planned $300 million renovation of Lenovo Center, rebranded from PNC Arena after the world’s biggest producer of personal computers signed a naming-rights deal that runs through the 2033-34 NHL season.
Brian Fork, hired in July as CEO of Hurricanes Holdings, confirmed the reported 10-year, $60 million agreement in an interview with VenuesNow.
The terms were approved today by the Centennial Authority, landlord for the 25-year-old building. Lenovo Center is also home to North Carolina State men’s basketball.
Lenovo, a Chinese company whose North American headquarters have been in Raleigh since 2006, has been a Hurricanes sponsor since 2021. The Hurricanes sold naming rights internally without using a consultant, Fork said.
In Raleigh, the new development is tied to a 20-year arena lease extension signed earlier this year between the Centennial Authority and Gale Force Sports and Entertainment, parent company of the team owned by Tom Dundon.
The mixed-use project spans 80 acres, to include 500 apartments, a 150-room hotel and a 4,300-seat indoor music venue to be run by Live Nation. The development will be financed by Gale Force in tandem with Pacific Elm Properties, Dundon’s real estate company. The developer has previously done work around American Airlines Center in Dallas, where the NHL Stars and NBA Mavericks play, Fork said.
The Beck Group, a Dallas architecture firm connected to Pacific Elm, is working on the mixed-use piece, Fork said.
The Hurricanes will partner with Live Nation on the music venue, which should help complement the concert schedule at 20,000-capacity Lenovo Center. The venue will also serve as a conference space, Fork said.
As part of the overall project, an existing plaza will be expanded with 56 new tailgate suites constructed between the arena and Carter-Finley Stadium, where N.C. State’s football team plays. The twist on conventional suites would accommodate two vehicles per unit, team spokesman Mike Sundheim said.
Over the past quarter-century, tailgating for hockey games has become a big tradition among Hurricanes fans, apart from college football Saturdays. The tailgate suites could be marketed separately between the two entities, which share 10,000 parking spaces on event days.
“We’re trying to get (interest in) the concept out there right now and working with the authority and N.C. State on the best plan,” he said.
The Raleigh development comes decades after it was initially proposed as part of arena construction in the late 1990s, according to Fork. The development’s timeline runs 15 years, according to Hurricanes officials.
“Part of it was for the first 15 to 20 years the arena was open, you needed a developer willing to make the investment, unlike the arena itself, which is a publicly-funded building,” Fork said. “They needed the right partner.”
Under the Hurricanes’ agreement with the authority, the team is required to maintain or replace 95% of existing parking, some of which would be resolved with construction of two new four-level parking decks.
The proposed development must go through a rezoning process, with public input, before it officially moves forward.
The first phase, starting in December 2025, spans 200,000 square feet and encompasses the expanded plaza and tailgating suites, the hotel and apartments. Initial work extends to the two parking garages to help replace the thousands of surface parking lot spaces vacated by new construction. The garages are expected to be completed for the 2027 college football season.
The project would seem to have tremendous potential, considering the huge influx of retired baby boomers and younger people working in the tech industry moving to North Carolina over the past decade and whom would patronize the district.
On its own, Raleigh stands among the country’s fastest-growing markets. Its current population of 488,000 represents 4.85% growth in the total number of city residents compared with 2020 figures, as reported by World Population Review.
The Hurricanes join the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, two NHL teams that formed entertainment districts decades after their arenas opened. Other NHL teams such as the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers developed districts in conjunction with opening new arenas over the past eight years.
Lenovo Center opened in 1999 as Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena. The first phase of arena upgrades will start after the 2024-25 hockey season. Most of the construction will take place over the next three summers, Fork said.
“At the same time we’re embarking on the development, we’re improving the arena,” he said. “We will be bringing in a lot of new features and are coordinating that with the new development so that the two projects can play off each other.”
