Mortensen has been named the general contractor for the Seattle Center Arena project. Skanska-Hunt, a joint venture between Skanska and AECOM Hunt, will step away from its role as contractor.

“Mortenson’s local Seattle office spent five months leading pre-construction efforts on the arena project and is very familiar with our approach and goals,” Oak View Group Senior Construction Executive Ken Johnson said in a statement. “Skanska-Hunt helped launch us, but I felt this project needed a dedicated single source team and we have mutually agreed upon a change. Mortenson is the nation’s pre-eminent arena builder and they are poised to complete this project in time for the Seattle Storm’s 2021 season. This decision is based on Skanska-Hunt’s construction priorities as well as the busy Seattle construction market.”

Skanska’s general manager of Seattle building operations, Kevin McCain, agreed with the decision.

“Our Skanska-Hunt joint venture is proud to have provided valuable pre-construction services for the greater Seattle Center Arena,” McCain said in a statement. “Given the market challenges and shift in timing, it did not make sense for our joint venture to move forward to the next phase of the project, so we recently came to a mutually agreed upon decision to end our joint venture’s involvement with the arena project.”

In addition, the architectural firm Rockwell Group will become part of the design team, working in partnership with Populous to provide architecture and interior design services to the arena, especially its four club areas and suites.

The new Seattle Center Arena is the largest private investment in Pacific Northwest sports and entertainment history, according to a statement by OVG. The arena’s interior will be 750K SF and have a 17,400-person capacity for hockey and an 18,600-person capacity for basketball. When it opens in 2021, the arena will be home to the WNBA Seattle Storm and the yet-unnamed NHL Seattle hockey team. It will host more than 140 events per year. It is expected to cost between $800M and $850M and is being paid for by private funds.