VIRGINIA BEACH -- Council members in Virginia Beach voted Tuesday to begin negotiating plans to build an 18,000-seat sports and entertainment arena at the Oceanfront.
Meanwhile, in Norfolk, two sports leaders talked about the possibility of bringing a pro team to Hampton Roads.
Ken Young, president of the Norfolk Tides and Admirals and Jeff Cogen, CEO of Nashville's NHL team the Predators, met with members of the United Jewish Federation and local business leaders at Harbor Park's restaurant.
Young admitted Hampton Roads has been talking about getting a pro franchise for about 20 years and he said it would take the right public-private partnership to get it done.
'I do think it also take potentially more public money then [they] currently might be being put into it because you want to have success both ways; not just success for the city, success for the ownership of the arena, very, very important for the long term success,' Young said.
Cogan said securing a sports team is crucial to the arena's overall success. 'My black and white answer is: do not build if you do not have a major tenant. You won't get the economic benefit if you don't have a tenant,' he said.
Virginia Beach agreed to move forward on negotiations with United States Management.
