By Renata Cló | Arizona Republic
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport officials continue to sound the alarm about the nearby entertainment district proposed by the Arizona Coyotes, although team officials have rebutted those concerns.
The owner of the NHL team is trying to build a $1.7 billion project with a hockey arena, hotels, apartments, restaurants and shops on 46 acres of city-owned land along the dry Salt River just west of Tempe Town Lake.
But the airport is just a little further west.
The property near Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive lines up with the airport’s two busiest runways and sits 10,000 feet east, or less than 2 miles, of the runway approach.
Shortly after the team submitted its proposal with Tempe in September, Sky Harbor officials raised concerns about its proximity to runways, air traffic noise in a residential area, proposed building heights air traffic impact of cranes and other construction equipment, and fireworks and lighting that could interfere with aircraft performance.
Deputy Aviation Director Jordan Feld, at Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board meetings this spring, added another concern to the list: estimating the airport could take a potential $264 million economic hit during the project’s construction.
Coyotes President and CEO Xavier Gutierrez eased some of the economic concerns by noting the cranes used would not be as tall as Feld estimated, although the airport official said apartments remain a top concern.
Gutierrez told the aviation board that the team would comply with all Federal Aviation Administration regulations without any requests for exemptions.
