Astros Owner Jim Crane “changed his mind about not speaking at the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council meeting Thursday after the council failed to give" his team and the Nationals "all the hotel tax money they want to build a spring training stadium in West Palm Beach,” according to a front-page piece by Joe Capozzi of the PALM BEACH POST. Crane, after nearly two hours of debate, said, “I think this is the best deal you will ever see and I don’t think you will see two teams back here if this doesn’t happen.” Capozzi notes Palm Beach County commissioners are “expected to make a final decision about the spending of public money on the Astros-Nationals facility on Sept. 23.” However, “serious questions remain about whether the baseball teams’ request could siphon away too much bed-tax money.” The tourist council on Thursday “ended up voting 6-3 to recommend a 30-year commitment” of $3M annually in hotel-tax revenue to help pay for a $140M stadium on a 160-acre former landfill. Crane: “You are turning a trash dump into something pretty spectacular. I doubt if you’ll ever get that opportunity again.” But Capozzi notes the council “narrowly rejected the teams’ request for an escalator,” a 3.5% annual increase “that would be compounded annually.” A $3M commitment would allocate $90M “in bed-tax revenue over 30 years.” Besides the $154.9M from the bed tax, the teams are seeking $50M “in tax dollars from the state and are offering to pay” $56.7M in rent over 27 years. The Astros and Nationals “are offering to commit to 30-year leases.” Besides $2.1M in rent, the Astros and Nationals “are offering to pay for maintenance at the complex” (PALM BEACH POST, 9/12).
THE PRICE IS WRONG? A PALM BEACH POST editorial is written under the header, “Price Tag For Spring Training Stadium Troublingly High.” The Astros and Nationals “have laid out a visually attractive proposal for a spring training stadium” that would be a “valuable public amenity [and] a much-needed boost to the surrounding area.” However, it “would be extraordinarily expensive” with a construction cost of $140M. The “real cost is even higher than the sticker price,” and “this is a lot to ask the county to bankroll.” All parties need to keep “working on a plan that makes financial sense for county residents” (
PALM BEACH POST, 9/12).
