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The city is looking for a few good developers, again.

The job: Come up with a plan to build a minimum 10,000-seat arena and general events center downtown.

The carrot: Land, specifically several acres sandwiched between Central Avenue and the convention center, that the city either already owns or will soon condemn and then lease to whoever comes up with the best plan.

The difference this time: The city will also effectively cosign on the loans for the project.

From the top floor of a parking garage overlooking the site, Mayor Martin Chavez said today that the combination of a prime Downtown location and the loan guarantee would attract "very significant suitors."

The formal request for proposals should be posted on the city's Web site this week. Chavez said he expected to forward the best recommendation to the City Council by the end of the year, with formal agreements being signed around March or April of 2007.

In January 2004, Chavez announced plans for a 10,000-seat arena Downtown that would be built entirely with private financing. The city was to contribute $5.5 million for land and retain ownership of the building after construction debt was paid.

But City Councilors began to question the project after estimates for the cost of land began to rise.

In November 2004, Chavez pulled the plug after it became clear that the city would have back up the loan.

But while that public involvement proved the nail in the coffin for the last plan, it is a centerpiece of the new one.

Chalk it up to expectations, said Councilor Isaac Benton. The last proposal went from no public backing to some. This proposal has it spelled out in the beginning.

"In the public purchasing environment, you really can't change the rules in the middle of the game," Benton said.

Just what this new events center will look like is an open question at this point.

Chavez said developers will be given wide latitude in coming up with ideas. Potentially, that could even include residential or commercial space.

Meanwhile, construction is wrapping up on a $45 million, 8,200-seat arena in Rio Rancho. The New Mexico Scorpions hockey team, the facility's main tenant, will open their season there in late October.