July 30, 2008
Tiger Stadium gets tenth life
The proposal to save part of Tiger Stadium from demolition got renewed life yesterday after Detroit city council president Kenneth Cockrel Jr. sent presevationists and city officials into a room yesterday and ordered them to work something out. The result: a plan in which the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy will put $369,000 in escrow (the group says it's already raised $430,000) to pay for the city's costs in saving the home-plate corner of the nearly century-old ballpark. The conservancy will then have until next March - rather than the 60 days the mayor had demanded - to raise the $15.6 million it needs to convert what's left of the stadium for a baseball museum and other uses.
The council acted after a morning in which many supporters of the preservation plan testified and called to urge that part of what's left of Tiger Stadium be saved. "I have yet to hear a constituent in the Corktown neighborhood say 'let's demolish it,'" said State Rep. Steve Tobocman. Added Bill Dow of the Tiger Stadium Fan Club: "The momentum's going to continue because as more people see the stadium being torn down, the more people are going to want to say, 'we've got to save a part of this history here.'"
The deal won't be official until Monday, when the parties will again meet and the council will vote on final approval of the plan.
July 29, 2008
Democracy Now tomorrow with Kucinich
Just got word that myself, Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich will be on the TV/radio show Democracy Now tomorrow morning at 8 am Eastern time, to discuss the latest New York Yankees stadium shenanigans. Given that co-host Juan Gonzalez has written extensively on the topic as well, it should be an informative half-hour or so. Check the station map for when it will air in your area, or just visit the show archives starting later in the day tomorrow.
UPDATE: The video and audio streams of the show are now online here. And yes, they picked a nice show title.
Tiger Stadium gets reprieve, new threat
Good news and bad news for Tiger Stadium, or what's left of it after demolition crews finished tearing down the left-field grandstand this week.
The good: The city council's planning and economic development committee rescinded its earlier approval for demolition of the entire park, after Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell testified that his Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy had succeeded in raising the $400,000 demanded by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick by August 1 to stop the wrecking ball from taking down the home-plate section of the ballpark, which the conservancy hopes to save.
The bad: A spokesperson for Mayor Kilpatrick responded that he was setting a new deadline of October 1 for the Conservancy to come up with "$15 million cash money," or the entire ballpark will be razed. "Federal earmarks won't work. Foundation promises won't work," said mayoral spokesperson James Canning. "They need $15 million cash money, on hand, in the bank."
The conservancy's financial plan relies on promises of $9.5 million in federal earmarks and tax credits, so it's unclear how they'll respond to this latest mayoral demand. (Or whether the council will go along with Kilpatrick moving the goalposts.) And if they do come up with the "cash money," you have to wonder what the mayor will ask for next.
More questions over Yanks' land value claims
New York state assemblymember Richard Brodsky has joined U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich in questioning whether the Yankees inflated the value of their new stadium site in order to be eligible for tax-exempt bonds. As my Metro NY colleague Pat Arden reported yesterday, the city reported the value of the land under the stadium as $200 million to the IRS - which needed a high number to justify the team's pretend-our-bond-payments-are-property-taxes deal - but just $21 million to the state, which needed to determine that the replacement parkland being proposed was worth at least as much.
"The PILOTs that repay the stadium bonds are actually a tax payment which normally would go into the city's coffers to pay for schools, police and health care," Brodsky wrote to team president Randy Levine. (Well, sort of. Either that, or they're really private bonds payments, and a way to cheat the federal government out of $200 million in taxes.) "No citizen of our state can call the local assessor and have his or her property tax payments sent to pay off the mortgage on their new house on the ground that otherwise they will leave the state."
Brodsky is also questioning whether there will be affordable tickets at the new stadium, and whether the city officials that approved the project will get their own luxury suite, as is indicated in the team's lease. Mayor Michael Bloomberg first insisted yesterday that the city wasn't getting a suite, only to have his spokesperson later backtrack and admit it was, but that the mayor hadn't decided what to do with it.
UPDATE: Bloomberg's verbatim remarks, according to Arden: "In the new stadiums, the city will not have any boxes, 'cause they're not going to be city-owned stadiums. They'll be built with private money - that was the whole deal. But I don't know whether anybody has any boxes. You talk to them." In fact, the stadiums will be owned by the city - by the city-run Industrial Development Authority, to be specific, and leased to the teams, much as the existing stadiums are owned by the city Parks Department and leased to the teams.
July 26, 2008
Kucinich probes Yanks bonds
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has already held a couple of hearings into stadium financing (the first of which I testified at), has sent letters to the New York Yankees and several local government agencies demanding details of how the assessment of the Yanks' new stadium's value was arrived at. This, you'll recall, is key to whether the team's plan to get subsidized tax-exempt bonds by pretending its rent payments are really property taxes; the city Independent Budget Office has previously questioned whether the new stadium is really worth as much as the city says it is, which would make the whole deal illegal.
The New York City Department of Finance, New York City Economic Development Corporation, National Park Service, Internal Revenue Service, and the Yankees have been given until August 5 to respond with the requested information. Mark your calendars.
Cardinals revive "Ballpark Village" plan
The St. Louis Cardinals announced yet another plan for their long-delayed "Ballpark Village" project on the site of old Busch Stadium, which fell apart earlier this year when the planned anchor tenant, the Centene Corp., backed out. (The site is currently a muddy pit known locally as "Lake DeWitt," after team president Bill DeWitt.) The new plan calls for phased construction - i.e., they'll build a few buildings now, then more later, maybe, if there's money for it - with the first phase costing $320 million, the second about $280 million. The first phase is planned to include a mix of office, retail, and entertainment (or maybe hotel - reports vary) uses; the second, if it happens, could include some residential units. Neither has a specific timetable for completion.
The city and state previously approved about $116 million in subsidies for the project (mostly in tax-increment financing, where developers get their property and sales taxes kicked back to them); the Cards and their development partner will still get that, plus another $7.9 million if they include a hotel. The St. Louis Business Journal reports that "the project must still receive approval from the Board of Estimate & Apportionment, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, and the State of Missouri." Before voting, they might want to consider the experience of other cities that have okayed subsidies for "phased construction" projects.
July 23, 2008
Marlins stadium suit nears conclusion - maybe
If you haven't been following the Florida Marlins stadium lawsuit, have you been missing some fine summer entertainment. The story so far, in brief:
- Judge Jeri Beth Cohen repeatedly tried to get the two sides to settle via mediation, but to no avail.
- Marlins president David Samson testified, but didn't live up to his reputation for outrageous quotes, unless you count the argument that "I believe the public is supportive of using tourist development taxes, from the hundreds and hundreds of e-mails we've got from fans." He further told reporters that the chance of opening a new stadium in 2011 "is starting to worry me."
- Tony Villamil, CEO of the Washington Economic Group - described as an "economist" by the South Florida Business Journal, but actually a paid consultant for the Marlins - testified that a new stadium "serves the public purpose of economic development" because of "the portfolio of amenities of the state or a region, what economists call externality benefits," such as media exposure. Villamil later admitted under cross-examination that his study projecting $208 million in economic impact (and $14 million in new state and local tax money, against a public cost of $360 million), was based on 2001 data supplied by the Marlins, which he didn't attempt to independently verify.
- Judge Cohen announced she'd wait several weeks to rule on plaintiff Norman Braman's key charge that community redevelopment money can't be redirected to free up other funds for the Marlins' stadium without a public vote. The reason: She wants to wait until the state supreme court has ruled on several similar cases involving use of public funds without a referendum. "I am not going to rule. I'm surprised you would pressure me," Cohen told attorneys for team, city, and county. "That's not what trial courts do. This is about me doing what is intellectually honest. ... I have an obligation to wait."
- During closing arguments, the judge asked county attorney David Hope why a new stadium represents a "paramount public purpose," as required by state law to get public money. "I know you guys think this is a slam dunk, but I'm struggling with this."
It certainly sounds like Braman has a shot at winning what initially looked like an uphill battle. (Caveat: I haven't watched any of the court proceedings directly, and I'm anything but a legal analyst.) We should know more when Cohen issues her ruling ... or when she issues the other part of her ruling after the supreme court decisions ... or after the appeals process begins ... or ...
July 22, 2008
The daily carnage
For fans of watching historic sports stadiums get reduced to rubble, we today present photos of the Orange Bowl three-quarters gone (possibly not up-to-the-minute - mlb.com doesn't say), and Tiger Stadium after the entire left-field grandstand crashed to the ground.
If that's not enough to cheer your day, you can also read Detroit Free Press writer Dan Austin's description of seeing a large swath of his childhood ballpark reduced to rubble: "For me, Monday night was the single most jarring moment of the demolition since the destruction began in earnest. I didn't cry, but I didn't breathe either. It felt like Cecil Fielder had taken a bat to my gut."
July 19, 2008
Latest Vikes plan would rebuild, turn Dome
The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, the public owner of the Minneapolis Metrodome, has unveiled yet another plan for a new Vikings stadium, this one involving rebuilding the Metrodome at a 90-degree angle to its current orientation, allowing them to add club seats and luxury suites and add a retractable roof. (This sounds less like "rebuilding" than "tearing it down and building a new one on the site," but whatever.) Estimated cost: No one knows. But given that a stadium consultant has estimated this plan would generate an additional $32 million a year in revenues for the Vikings, unless they can do a rebuild for less than half a billion dollars, the commission would be better off just putting the cash in a savings account and letting the Vikings keep the interest.
Giants announce PSLs for all
The New York Giants have revealed how much they'll be charging for personal seat licenses at their new $1.6 billion stadium: Cheap seats will require a $1,000 down payment, while the best tickets will run $20,000 - and that's before the $7,000 per seat a season fans will have to pay for the tickets themselves. Licenses can be resold to other fans when you're done with them, but that's likely to be of little comfort for those who don't have a college fund to raid to afford the buy-in in the first place: "For people like me, these tickets are part of my family heritage," one season ticket holder told the New York Times. "And because of my parents’ efforts, we have excellent seats, so it’s a kick in the stomach to be presented with a plan like this that we can’t afford."
The prices still pale in comparison to those announced for the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium, which will range from $16,000 to $50,000 for prime club seats. In Dallas (okay, really Arlington), though, some nosebleed seats don't require a PSL; for the Giants, if fans don't come bearing a $1,000 check up front, they'll have to stay home and watch on TV.
Interviews on Atlantic Yards Report, WSJ, and points north
I keep meaning to find a moment to mention the multipart interview that Norman Oder did with me and is posting in bits to his Atlantic Yards Report blog; now that segment #4, addressing the would-be savior of scandal-ridden ACORN, went up yesterday, what better time than now?
And if you really can't get enough of me in your mass media, I was also featured in a recent Wall Street Journal article on the new Washington Nationals stadium and how likely it is to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood (answer: not very); and will be making an appearance on a Fox News radio station in Tulsa on Wednesday at 3 pm (Central time) to discuss that city's new arena. I'm also available to play private parties.
July 16, 2008
Nationals withhold rent, economic development from D.C.
I somehow missed this last weekend: The Washington Nationals are withholding rent on their new taxpayer-built stadium because they say it was not "substantially complete" in time for the season. Team offices, they say, weren't ready until three weeks after opening day, and hundreds of unspecified "punch list" items remain unfinished.
And to show there's no "i" in "chutzpah," the Nats owners are also demanding $100,000 a day in damages, dating back to March 1. That would amount to about $13.5 million by now, or more than double what the Nats would pay in rent for the entire year.
As for whether the Nats are holding up their end of the bargain by creating a promised economic renaissance in Southeast D.C., Mark Yost takes a look for the Wall Street Journal and concludes:
With the exception of some housing and small businesses that have moved into the neighborhood, the vast majority of the "development" in Southeast is nothing more than taxpayer-funded public works projects.
So in the end, what did the taxpayers get other than a bill for $611 million? The Washington Nationals' Web site advertises jobs for elevator operators, fan ambassadors and security guards. The pay is $7.50-$8.50 an hour.
Detroit development agency: Tear down Tiger already
The Detroit Economic Development Corp., which has never been eager to hear ideas for preserving Tiger Stadium, voted yesterday to call for the city council to okay complete demolition of the stadium, two weeks in advance of the Aug. 1 deadline Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick set for fundraising to preserve part of the structure. (Waymon Guillebeaux, VP of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the development agency's parent, insisted the vote was just to "give the city council a reasonable time to make a final decision," but given the group's letter to the council declares that "the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy has not been able to demonstrate any commitments of funding for construction and operation or a feasible plan to obtain such commitments," you have to think they're pulling for one particular decision.
The conservancy, meanwhile, now says it's halfway to its initial $400,000 fundraising goal, though it's unclear from press reports whether that's its total take to date or how much was donated just in the wake of yesterday's announcement. As always, you can contribute to the cause on their website.
July 11, 2008
Silverdome sale brings $20m
The Pontiac Silverdome - vacant since the Lions moved out in 2001 - has been sold by the city of Pontiac to a developer who hopes to build (deep breath) a hotel, conference center, thoroughbred race track, equestrian research facility and alternative energy conversion center on the grounds. The dome itself would stay open as well, at least for the time being, for concerts and other events, provided somebody wants to rent a concert hall that seats 80,000.
The price tag for the 33-year-old dome, plus the 127 acres of land surrounding it: $20 million. Let that be a cautionary tale to cities that work deals giving them the right to take title to aging stadiums 30 years down the road - yes, I'm looking at you, St. Louis.
Nats block fans' view of dome
For Washington Nationals fans were were all excited that they'd get to see the Capitol dome from their seats, this is a nasty surprise: The team has put a giant red tent atop the parking garage behind the left field wall, effectively blocking views of the House That Thomas U. Walter Built.
And if you're one of those baseball traditionalists who'd rather go to a ballgame to watch the game rather than the surrounding architecture, then it's schadenfreude time, baby.
July 10, 2008
Fans gather to watch Tiger demolition
Now that the demolition of Tiger Stadium has begun in earnest - yesterday crews opened a large hole in the left-field grandstand - the Detroit News is finally acknowledging that many people aren't too thrilled that this is happening:
Around 2:30 p.m., brothers Roman and Dave Razo, who grew up just a few blocks away, arrived in an SUV emblazoned with Tiger logos. The brothers, both in their early 50s, brought along an old wooden ladder so they could see above the fence surrounding the demolition site, a "Save Tiger Stadium" bumper sticker and a framed picture of the last game played there.
"I don't know what to say, I swear to God, I just don't know what to say," said Dave Razo, who was wearing a jersey with the name Aurelio Rodriguez on the back, commemorating the Tigers' popular third-baseman in the 1970s.
The News article is accompanied by a slideshow of photos of the demolition work, including one showing a hole clear through to the inside of the ballpark.
The Detroit Free Press, meanwhile, reports that the center-field flagpole and the two foul poles will be "taken down and stored until it can determined how they'll be reused." The rest of the stadium will be sold for scrap to pay for demolition costs.
I'd comment on my own feelings, but David Gratt already said it better, four years ago.
July 03, 2008
Seattle suit settled; Sonics heading for OKC
The city of Seattle unexpectedly threw in the towel in its suit to keep the Seattle Sonics in town for another two years yesterday (apparently its expert testimony wasn't doing much good), announcing a settlement deal in which owner Clay Bennett will pay $45 million for the right to immediately terminate his lease and move the team to Oklahoma City.
Bennett also agreed to pay Seattle an additional $30 million in 2013 if the city has been unable to land another NBA team - but only if the state legislature has by then agreed to spend $75 million toward a $300 million renovation of KeyArena.
Whether or not you consider this a proper ransom for a 41-year-old NBA franchise, the extra $30 million payment does make for some interesting incentives going forward. First off, it makes the prospect of taxpayers fronting half the money for a renovation go down a bit easier, if the public could get an extra $30 million to defray its costs. (Would this count as a return on public investment, as required by Seattle law?) Bennett, meanwhile, suddenly has an incentive to push the NBA to put a team in Seattle if the arena reno plan goes through - though it's hard to picture the NBA ignoring that market with a publicly renovated arena, David Stern's bluster notwithstanding. As 2013 nears, we could even see a kind of arena arbitrage, with the state trying to time arena funding to meet the deadline without giving the NBA enough time to find a replacement franchise by the cutoff, thus getting its $30 million and the prospect of a replacement Sonics, too - though that's probably more forethought than is reasonable to expect from elected officials.
As for the Sonics, they will now become the Oklahoma City Something-or-Others; the Oklahoman newspaper, throwing all pretense of objectivity out the window, put a photo of a basketball surrounded by champagne glasses on their website's front page to mark the occasion. The only possible stumbling block: Former Sonics owner Howard Schultz is still moving forward with his lawsuit to nullify the team's sale on the ground that the new owners didn't make a good-faith effort to keep the team in Seattle, as required by the sale agreement. Given that the talk of boycotting Schultz' Starbucks Coffee has already begun, you can see why he wouldn't want to back down - especially given that alienating his hometown customers is the last thing Schultz needs right now.
Demolition of Tiger Stadium is underway
The demolition of 96-year-old Tiger Stadium began this week, with crews punching a large hole in an exterior wall, no doubt to begin moving in equipment. (If I'm reading the photos right, it's the wall along the left-field side, along Fisher Freeway.) An FoS reader sends along a closer view.
Meanwhile, the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy is now taking online donations toward its campaign to preserve the section of the grandstand from first to third base. It looks as if earlier reports that only a small section of the lower deck would be saved under the plan was incorrect, though much of the seating in the latest plan does appear to be displaced for stores or offices.
July 02, 2008
Yanks bond costs a state secret
Today's Yankees stadium bond hearing delivered more heat than light - at one point, assemblymember Richard Brodsky berated the sole witness, city development chief (and fellow Harvard Law School alum) Seth Pinsky, "Who did you have in Civil Procedure? Because you would have gotten an F for that answer") - but in the course of three hours, it did reveal answers to a few questions about the Steinbrenners' latest tax-exempt bond demands:
- First off, no one knows whether the exact bond request is $350 million or $400 million because no official request exists: The Yankees have only submitted a "partially completed draft application," according to Pinsky. (The Mets, he said, are working on their own, smaller bond request.) Serious bond talks won't be finalized until the IRS makes a decision on its new tax-exempt bond rules.)
- Those rules, Pinsky told reporters following the hearing, would effectively preclude the use of tax-exempt bonds for New York sports stadiums - while bonds could theoretically be sold with the bond payments floating with tax assessments, as the IRS is thinking of requiring, "the investment community has said that the risk of the floating rates is too great, and that people won't buy bonds that are secured by revenues where they're not sure what the total revenues will be." If true, this could mean the fate of the Nets' Atlantic Yards plan rests on a friendly decision by the IRS, though Pinsky was quick to add, "I believe that this project is going to happen - we believe it's a very important project for Brooklyn."
- Though Yankees COO Lonn Trost told reporters in February that the added funds would go to pay for such things as a six-story-high scoreboard, expanded concessions facilities, and rush charges stemming from delays in getting the project off the ground, Pinsky refused to give any details about where the money would go, even redacting what information the Yankees provided in documents supplied to Brodsky's office, on the grounds that it was "competitive information" that might give the team's suppliers an advantage in negotiations. (If you've ever met Richard Brodsky, you can picture what his response was to this. If you haven't, here's a reasonable facsimile.)
For more on the hearing, see my report at the Village Voice website, real soon now.
UPDATE: here's a direct link.
Crab break
I've been away the past few days in Baltimore - including a visit to stadium-that-started-the-new-ballpark-craze Camden Yards, which turns out to have fine sightlines when there are only 5,000 people in the stands - so I've fallen a bit behind on the news updates here. I'll be back shortly with the latest reports, including one on today's hearing on the Yankees' latest request for $350 million in city-backed stadium bonds. Stay tuned.
