There are sweeping changes afoot at Madison Square Garden, the Wall Street Journal reported, so much so that MSG President and Chief Executive Hank Ratner is referring to the building as “the fifth Garden,” an entirely new arena that just happens to be in the same building. The first round of renovations is slated to be completed by October, in time for the Rangers’ home opener.

MSG executives this week gave the most detailed look at renovations so far. The Garden has been gutted and the locker rooms, Delta Club and 1879 Club are all only halfway completed. As previously reported, the project is expected to cost between $775 million and $850 million.

With ticket price hikes of 49 percent coming into play this season, being a premium ticket holder comes with a few extra perks. [more]

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, currently at the beginning stages of an $850 million renovation, would move one block west under a revived proposal by Vornado Realty Trust’s Steven Roth that is gaining traction amongst arena and city officials, the New York Times reported. MSG’s 5,600-square-foot theater is slated to close temporarily at the end of June for the first stage of construction. Roth, who controls much of the area, including 1 Penn Plaza and the Hotel Pennsylvania, reportedly told officials that the renovation would be more expensive and disruptive than building a new arena altogether. Furthermore, he contended, it won’t hold a candle to Brooklyn’s planned Barclays Center for the Nets even when the job is done. Roth’s plans call for MSG to move into the James A. Farley Post Office across the street, which would also become part of an expanded transit hub called Moynihan Station. The current arena would be demolished and rebuilt as a retail mall. [NYT]

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Madison Square Garden is in need of $850 million in renovations, the arena’s management said, and it may not be able to afford them. Previous estimates had pegged the upgrades at $500 million and the Knicks had secured a $375 million loan to help cover the work last week. The rest was to be covered by inter-company loans and the basketball team’s existing cash flows. Last week’s loan terms stipulate that the arena’s debt can only be six times as large as its cash flow, and it’s already getting close at a 5.33 leverage ratio once the loans are drawn, according to research firm CreditSights. One option for the Knicks is to raise ticket prices. Another is to allow player contracts to expire at the end of this season without picking up the tab for any new sky-high salaries, or to borrow some cash from parent company Cablevision Systems. Still, there is the possibility that the Garden’s renovation project could be even more costly than the $850 million now projected. “The New York City construction project that comes in on budget and on time is as rare as a C train after midnight,” CreditSights quipped.

Madison Square Garden’s street level television studio is set to close
on Dec. 1 for renovations, according to a statement from MSG Media. The
studio, at 11 Penn Plaza, will be refurbished as part of Madison Square
Garden’s $500 million renovation project. While an official reopening
date hasn’t been set, an MSG spokesperson said it’s expected to open
its doors “in the near future.” A tipster told Crain’s that around 16
employees will lose their jobs as a result of the project. [more]