April 22, 2009 - HB Equities, USA Basketball, Mountain Shadows Resort, Glendale AZ

USA Basketball Coming To Glendale Arizona

2008 Beijing Olympic Photos

2008 Beijing Olympic Photos

Below - Assistant coach Nate McMillan, head coach Mike Krzyzewski, director of USA basketball Jerry Colangelo and assistant coaches Mike D'Antoni and Jim Boeheim of the United States pose together after they defeated Spain in the men's basketball gold medal game during Day 16 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China.

A Scottsdale development group is getting $1.2 billion in bond financing from La Paz County to develop the new USA Basketball headquarters as part of a mammoth project in Glendale.

HB Equities LLC inked a deal with the La Paz County Industrial Development Authority, which benefits to the tune of $12 million. HB is headed by partners Robert Banovac and Daniel Hendon, owner of Scottsdale-based Danny’s Car Wash chain. It will use $792 million of the total for the two projects.

Main Street Glendale plans call for 1,200 hotel rooms, 800,000 square feet of commercial space, including basketball training facilities, office, retail and a Nike-sponsored basketball museum. The USA Basketball headquarters will serve as a training base for the U.S. national men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Banovac and Hendon are partners in development firm Rightpath Ltd., which owns the land at Loop 101 and Maryland Avenue.

Banovac and Hendon said they are moving forward with Main Street Glendale without Rightpath’s other partner, Rick Burton. Banovac said Burton has opted to go in a different direction. Burton did not respond to requests for comment.

HB Equities is negotiating with Rightpath and Burton to acquire the land, which is adjacent to the new Camelback Ranch spring training baseball stadium, home to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, Banovac said.

Construction could begin within 120 days, Hendon and Banovac said.

Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley welcomed the financing deal noting that businesses are having a difficult time finding credit. Main Street complements nearby Westgate City Center and the University of Phoenix Stadium, he said. The city negotiated the headquarters move with USA Basketball and its chairman, Jerry Colangelo.

“We’re extremely pleased,” Beasley said. He said it is his understanding that HB Equities will take over the development from Rightpath, which also had been looking for bond financing.

Colangelo said the financing appears to have the USA Basketball move on track. “This announcement is very positive,” said Colangelo, who put together last year’s gold medal winning men’s basketball Olympics team. No timetable has been set for the move, but it could occur by the end of 2010, he said.

The HB Equities/La Paz County financing also allocates:

$125 million for debt restructuring and a 12-store expansion of Danny’s Car Wash from its current 17 locations.

$140 million for renovation of Marriott Mountain Shadows Resort and Golf Club in Scottsdale. HB is in the process of acquiring the resort, Hendon said.

$153 million to HB Equities for commercial airport and hanger developments at Glendale Municipal, Yuma International and Goodyear airports

$110 million to reimburse investors caught up in Rightpath’s involvement with Mortgages Ltd. Mortgages Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the suicide of its CEO Scott Coles last year. Rightpath sued Mortgages claiming the latter failed to follow through with loan deals.

USA Basketball, the national body that oversees and picks teams for the Olympics and World Championships, entered a deal with Rightpath and the city of Glendale in November to move its base from Colorado Springs, Colo.

Financing for the basketball-centered development needed to be in place by May for the move to go through. “We would have lost the USA Basketball agreement,” Banovac said.

The Mens USA Basketball facility will include training centers to host practices for the Olympics and World Championship teams. The U.S. mens’ team at the Beijing Olympics last year included top players LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Main Street also will have restaurants and an 18-hole golf course. The site is on the west side of the Loop 101 Freeway across from University of Phoenix Stadium and Westgate City Center.

Hollywood, Calif.-based architecture and design firm Dodd Mitchell will oversee the Mountain Shadows renovations as well as Main Street Glendale design.

Beasley said the developers had other financing options, including Glendale Industrial Development Authority, but the La Paz deal is the most efficient.

IDAs allow Arizona cities and counties to offer bond financing for projects throughout the state. Banovac said La Paz County will get $12 million over 10 years from the deal and the Main Street financing is at no cost to taxpayers.

La Paz County is located in southwestern Arizona along the Colorado River. It has a population of 20,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The desert county sits north of Yuma and across the Colorado River from California’s Imperial Valley.

An attorney representing the La Paz County IDA did not return telephone calls seeking comment.