October 31, 2003
Dade and confused
More on the latest Florida Marlins stadium pitch:
- The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau says it'll go along with diverting $50 million in hotel-tax money to a stadium, but only in the county comes up with new cash to replace this revenue, which had been earmarked for a renovation of the Miami Beach Convention Center.
- Critics are wondering how Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria expects to build a retractable-roofed stadium for $325 million, when similar existing facilities have cost more than $500 million, and the last stadium proposed in Miami (by former Marlins owner John Henry) bore a $385 million price tag.
- The team has graciously agreed to rename itself the Miami Marlins in exchange for ballpark subsidies.
"To be blunt, it doesn't matter if it's a realistic figure because if they don't build it for $325 million, it's not going to cost us the difference," insists stadium plan proponent Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, noting the Marlins have offered to pay for all cost overruns. Of course, that's what they all say.
October 30, 2003
Those who live under glass retractable roofs
New York Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff has sent a letter to the Port Authority, owner of the World Trade Center site, demanding that the authority provide details on how much its planned contruction on Ground Zero will cost, and how it will be paid for. Which reminds us, Dan: Weren't you supposed to be getting back to the public on the financing for your proposed $3.7 billion Olympic Stadium project? Or is that $5 billion?
October 28, 2003
Miami-Dade pitches stadium
Okay, maybe we spoke too soon. With the Florida Marlins holding their World Series victory parade today, Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess announced a plan to spend $73 million in county hotel-tax funds toward a new retractable-roofed stadium for the ballclub. If approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission, the plan would still leave the projected $325 million project short by $115 million, much of which the city of Miami could be asked to pick up.
October 26, 2003
Kings arena plan tabled
Sacramento mayor Heather Fargo says she's abandoning plans for a March referendum on funding a new basketball arena for the Kings, after widespread opposition to her long-awaited financing proposal. The $538 million project would have been funded virtually entirely with public funds, including hotel and car rental surcharges, and a sales tax hike on downtown restaurants, which was hardly a hit with downtown restaurateurs.
October 22, 2003
Miami mayor pushes stadium
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who is hoping to build a new retractable-roofed stadium for the Florida Marlins (not to be confused with Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, who isn't), says he hopes to meet with Penalas and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria after the World Series to try to cut a deal for a new facility. Asked why he backed a stadium, Diaz told Knight-Ridder: "I've never been a believer a stadium is the driving force to enhance a neighborhood," then added, "I love baseball, and Miami should have Major League Baseball. It's economically good for the area." Glad we got that cleared up.
October 20, 2003
NYC would use TIFs for Brooklyn arena
Amid much talk of "revitalization" and "the New Brooklyn" and Robert Moses, a long puff piece in New York magazine on developer Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn arena dreams for the New Jersey Nets reveals that the New York mayor's office is offering tax-increment financing for the project. We can hardly wait for the council hearings on this one.
October 11, 2003
Sox win to curse Fenway?
As the Boston Red Sox prepare to take on the Yankees for the A.L. title in three playoff games at Fenway Park, the team's owner is once again hinting at moving out of the historic ballpark. "My No.1 objective would be to keep us there," John Henry told the Wall Street Journal. "But I'm not sure that, for the very long term, it's the right thing for the franchise or for New England." The Journal article, which variously referred to the perennially sold-out Fenway as "outmoded" and "crumbly," noted that Henry is now rethinking planned renovations to Fenway, which could cost up to $200 million; baseball economist Andrew Zimbalist added that with the Red Sox winning, "if they announce in three years that 'We don't really quite see Fenway making it,' they'll have a good chance to work out a public-private partnership for doing something new." Needless to say, we know someone who will have a thing or two to say about that.
October 09, 2003
Nets arena reno offer
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has offered to spend $100 million on renovations to Continental Airlines Arena if the New Jersey Nets stay put there. The team would repay some share (it's not clear how much) of the costs from its increased revenues - though would-be team owner Charles Kushner, the only one of three Nets bidders who wants to remain at the Meadowlands, says he wants to extract profits before paying back the state. Meanwhile, residents of Brooklyn's Prospect Heights neighborhood adjacent to where developer Bruce Ratner wants to build a Nets stadium rallied against the project on Sunday, with more protests promised.
October 04, 2003
NYC mayor denies Queens stadium plan
After Newsday's revelations that New York City's Economic Development Corporation had studied building an Olympic stadium in the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens near Shea Stadium, city officials swiftly denied this meant they were backing off their $3.7 billion West Side stadium plan. A Manhattan stadium would be "total economic development" that could be used by conventions at the nearby Javits Center, insisted Mayor Michael Bloomberg, while deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff snapped that "There has been not one word of discussion about a stadium used for the Olympics there: none, zero. Our focus is exclusively on the West Side." Newsday reported that a January 2002 memo by the city Olympic committee NYC2012 - Doctoroff's former employer - revealed that a Queens stadium would be "substantially lower" than a Manhattan site. But then, it's not like New York needs the money or anything.
