Forsyth County Approves MOU for NHL Arena, Mixed-Use Gathering Project

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved a binding Memorandum of Understanding with Krause Sports & Entertainment last Tuesday, clearing the most significant formal hurdle yet for The Gathering at South Forsyth, a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development anchored by an arena built to host a future NHL franchise.

The March 26 vote formalizes commitments from both the county and Vernon Krause, president and CEO of Krause Sports & Entertainment and a Forsyth County resident who has spent more than a year building the case for bringing professional hockey to the county's southern corridor. Krause called the project "poised to be a transformative destination" and said he is confident in presenting the plan to the NHL.

Under the MOU, Krause Sports & Entertainment will privately finance the development's mixed-use components, including commercial office and retail space, hotel accommodations, and multifamily and single-family housing. The developer also takes responsibility for several public amenities: a 1.2-mile connection to the Big Creek Greenway, a proposed fire station, and a proposed Sheriff's Office precinct.

The county's financial commitment, up to $225 million, is tied directly to one contingency: the NHL must award a franchise. If that happens, the county would issue bonds repaid through a Tax Allocation District limited to the development's own property, a structure county officials say insulates taxpayers outside the project footprint from the cost. County Manager David McKee described the agreement as "a large step to bringing this world-class sports and entertainment hub to Forsyth County" and pointed to the TAD structure as a safeguard for the broader tax base.

The MOU also specifies that the county would own the arena outright, with an operator maintaining it under a lease arrangement. Both the county and the Forsyth County Board of Education would receive annual sales tax revenue generated within the footprint; an Ernst & Young analysis estimated that figure at roughly $8 million per year. District 5 Commissioner Laura Semanson praised the project's potential economic return for her district, where the development would be located.

Approving the MOU does not guarantee groundbreaking or an NHL franchise. It establishes a formal roadmap and gives Krause Sports & Entertainment clearer authorization to advance financing plans, pursue regulatory approvals, and make its case directly to league officials. Questions about traffic, road infrastructure, water and sewer capacity, and the revenue assumptions underlying the TAD repayment plan remain subjects for public scrutiny as the project moves forward.

What the vote does confirm is that Forsyth County is now formally in the NHL expansion race.