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.
—Neil deMause
Interesting article. Of course shame on us for believing that politicians, who generally don't know the first thing about economics, could discover some secret in urban development by paying $600 million for something other cities made the teams pay for!
And did we expect anything else from the Nats?
Great comment from the politician. Of course that neighborhood around the Marine barracks has been attracting young people for at least 10 years, who bought houses in slum condition at low prices, and then put their own money and labor into renovating them. And now a politician says its because they decided to build a stadium 3 years ago! haha!
We'll be foolish again.
Posted by Gdub on July 16, 2008 11:31 PM