When you see the former arena in Natomas, you think of many things. Probably amazing concerts, first kisses and all the times that the best basketball team in the area, the Kings, would win home game after home game. Well, as it turns out, that old arena is going to be created into a medical center and teaching hospital for California Northstate University. This is definitely a generous offer on the part of the sports franchise. By doing this, the team is therefore donating 35 developing acres of land to the project. It’s looking to be existing in three years.

Which has the team themselves down to 149 acres on the site.

The Kings Owner and Chairman, Vivek Ranadive has mentioned thoughts on this:

“With a medical school campus and teaching hospital, this project will serve as a hub of innovation and an economic driver for the entire region.” This is definitely good karma for the Kings.

Demolition will begin later in the year. This arena is well-known as the Sleep Train Arena or the ARCO Arena, which saw it’s grand opening way back in 1988. They would host the Kings there until about April 9th, 2016. That’s when the team would play their last game. This would then beat out the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-112. It was then that the arena turned out to be fourth oldest and second-smallest in the National Basketball Association.

Since then, other teams have used the site, such as the Women’s National Basketball Association, the Sacramento Monarchs. They being the only pro-basketball championship in the capital of California. It was even used as a part-time COVID-19 surge hospital just last year.

What Varshney & Associates say in their economic analysis is that the California Northstate University Medical Center is supposedly generating $4.04 billion in regional economic output for the following ten years.