Before moving the team, the SuperSonics' ownership group proposed that a new arena be built in Renton using $500 million in public funds, but an agreement was not made.

[5] On January 21, 2013, the Sacramento Kings were sold to a Seattle-based ownership group, on the condition that the NBA Board of Governors approve the sale to San Francisco hedge fund manager Chris Hansen.

[8] Despite the failed attempt to move the Kings, Hansen's plans to bring an NBA team back to Seattle, possibly by expansion, are continuing.

[11] On February 16, 2012, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine announced an agreement with the Hansen's investment team.

[14] On July 30, 2012, the King County Council approved the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that Chris Hansen, Mike McGinn, and Dow Constantine proposed.

[16] On September 11, 2012, the Seattle City Council reached a tentative agreement with Chris Hansen to build a SoDo basketball and ice hockey arena with revisions including the base rent being reduced from $2 million a year to $1 million, some tax revenue paying for surrounding transportation improvements and KeyArena renovations, a study for alternatives for the redevelopment of KeyArena, and an added five-year personal guarantee of bond debts from Hansen.

[19] On August 12, 2014, major investor Steve Ballmer left the Sonics Arena investment team to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers.

[20] His departure was a devastating double blow for the Sonics Arena investment team, as not only was he expected to be the majority owner of a prospective NBA franchise (A requirement for construction of the arena to commence), but the purchase price of the Clippers also greatly inflated the expected asking price of an NBA franchise (The Houston Rockets selling 3 years later for $2.2 billion [21]).

Coupled with the NBA/NHL ready design, AECOM also examined the likelihood of securing a franchise in both the NBA and NHL, and concluded that NBA expansion was unlikely in the near future as the league had concerns about "product dilution" and that relocation was unlikely as "there currently is no team that is actively and publicly planning to move", but that Seattle was a top market for potential expansion or relocation of an NHL franchise due to its population, population growth, median household income, and corporate support.

The street vacation was subject to opposition by the Port of Seattle and local longshoreman unions, citing their previous arguments from 2012 of increased traffic and gentrification of the "industrial waterfront".

"[26][27][28] On October 25, 2016, in a letter to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, King County Executive Dow Constantine and the Seattle City Council, Hansen's group offered to terminate the MOU and waive the requirement for the City and County's $200 million contribution (bonds which would have been repaid pay through rent and taxes generated by arena operations).

Instead, the group would pay for the entire cost of construction and contribute to other traffic and freight mobility improvement projects, including the Lander Street Overpass, in exchange for the vacation of Occidental Avenue, a waiver on admission taxes similar to that granted to the other sports venues, and a reduction of the B&O tax rate on out-of-town revenue.

[23] On September 7, 2017, the day before a draft MOU for the redevelopment of KeyArena was to be delivered to the City Council, the Sonics Arena group released a 10-page letter detailing a $100 million privately financed redevelopment of KeyArena into a concert venue to be coupled with construction of the new basketball arena in SoDo in an effort to kick start the project again.

"If the SODO Arena Group was interested in redeveloping KeyArena, they should have submitted their proposal during the RFP process, which would have shown a willingness to work with the City on this project.

[32] The MOU included an exclusivity clause that forbade the city from giving benefits to any other group proposing an arena of 15,000 seats or more.

[39] At the two-hour rally, Chris Hansen, Dow Constantine, and other council members spoke along with former Sonics Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Slick Watts, and Detlef Schrempf.

On July 7, 2012, the Seattle Times wrote an editorial opposing the arena proposal, writing, "The glittering offer should be turned down with a resolute ‘no thanks.