By George Fallar 
There’s a Coyotes rumored arena location.
A formal request for an expansion franchise in Salt Lake City spun up the Coyotes relocation rumor mill. The NHL All Star break, long considered a deadline for solid arena plans arrived without any news from ownership, rumors once again reached fever pitch.
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The Arizona Republic recently published a story about an application by the Arizona Coyotes to by State Trust land in North Phoenix. There was little detail in the story about the particular location, although a map of a parcel was included.
The story stated the proposed purchase would be about 200 acres. The parcel map was similar to the one posted here taken from the State Land Trust web site in December. That entire parcel is larger, 342.93 acres. It’s possible a portion of that parcel could be sold by the state.
The parcel is north of Loop 101 east of Scottsdale Road. There is already an exit from the 101 at North 64th Street with a “stub” of further exit construction protruding into the rumored parcel aimed at the alignment of an eventual continuation of N 64th St to the north.
The entire parcel is zoned “R-1”, a rural designation for ranch and farm land. There are no visible utilities or infrastructure. The immediate neighbors perhaps still includes a decent sized encampment of unhomed people just to the east.
The Scottsdale 101 shopping center is just to the southeast on the other side of the 101.
Access to the site from the 101 could be from three exits , two of which could be immediately adjacent to the parcel depending on how it is eventually built out.
It’s a great place for an arena.
Coyotes Acknowledge The Possibility
The Coyotes have been circumspect since the Tempe location fizzled out. The mounting pressure of the All Star Game “deadline” and questions from the press combined with NHL Players Association director Marty Walsh getting loud may have helped push the story out. Xavier Gutierrez responded to the Arizona Republic regarding the story about the site.
I can confirm that we have submitted an application. But… I’m confirming with you that, as I’ve made very clear on a number of occasions, we are looking at multiple sites and we are not yet ready to announce which is the one that we are going to pursue as the primary one.
Coyotes CEO Xavier Gutierrez to Arizona Republic – February 2, 2024
According to the Arizona Republic, the original applicant for the Trust Land was the Fennemore Craig law firm. It may or not be notable that John Kaites works for Fennemore Craig.
Kaites is familiar with the Coyotes. Kaites was lunching around Glendale representing someone interested in purchasing the Coyotes as the Jamison deal was circling the drain. We are fairly certain that person was Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox. That’s old news, but it’s important to note Kaites is well connected and successful negotiating behind and within the scenes necessary to push sports projects to completion in Arizona. He managed to push through Camelback Ranch, a sweetheart deal for both Phoenix and Reinsdorf’s baseball team at the expense of Glendale.
Coyotes Rumored Arena Location Video
Craig Morgan posted a video on Twitter/X with a cryptic “Coming soon?” comment in early December, 2023.
Morgan is the premiere source of reliable Arizona Coyotes news. So, if Craig puts something out in the breeze, it’s worth considering as truth. Without a direct expression of fact, you can rely on that information being a rumor with some solid basis in something he cannot publish.
We don’t even know if Craig shot the video himself or sourced it elsewhere. We don’t know if he was in the area and had a hunch, heard something in passing, or actually received some information through his usual solid reporting. It didn’t matter then or now other than there’s affirmation of accuracy.
Reading between the lines is worth your time because it’s probably not a waste of that time.
The end of the panned shot shows a range of mountains familiar to anyone living in Cave Creek for awhile. It’s the McDowell Mountains on the northeast edge of Scottsdale. The foreground shows a construction area within not too many miles of the mountains.
It’s not rocket surgery to calculate and figurate the location from where that short video was shot.
We had it the next day.
There’s likely to be an announcement of sorts very shortly, according to the same source. So, if you don’t follow Craig on Twitter/X, you should rectify that situation now.
