The projected cost to rebuild San Francisco’s Pier 30-32 in order to support the development of the Warriors’ proposed waterfront arena is up to $180 million, $10 million more than the $170 million estimated last summer.
While the extra $10 million is a relative drop in the bucket with respect to the overall budget for the project, it’s indicative of a more complex and time consuming project than originally projected, increasing the odds that the Warriors won’t have an arena ready for the 2017 NBA season in San Francisco.
The original timeline and critical path for the proposed arena to be ready in time for the 2017 season required the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to have been prepared by the summer of 2013 and certified last fall. The report has yet to be finished.
The arena project cannot be approved by the city nor any permits issued until the EIR is certified, a legal challenge of which is sure to come. And even assuming no setbacks at the ballot-box or in the courts, construction of the arena will take around two and one-half years to complete and was scheduled to start this summer in order for the arena to ready for a 2017 opening.