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MLB Commissioner Believes Braves' SunTrust Park Will Be Model For Future Ballparks

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred believes the Braves' new SunTrust Park is the "model for future ballparks," according to Charles Odum of the AP. Manfred said he views the Braves' new park and The Battery Atlanta mixed-use development as a "watershed" event for baseball, "like with Camden Yards in the early '90s." Manfred: "The scope of the mixed-use development surrounding the ballpark and the economic opportunity it has created for the club is what people see as revolutionary. It's a different era in terms of community financing for facilities." He added, "SunTrust Park provides a roadmap for clubs to get new stadiums built." More Manfred: "There has never been something this massive around a baseball stadium and it's really an amazing accomplishment." Meanwhile, Odum noted the first few home games will show if the Braves have "adequately addressed the new traffic concerns at the busy interstate exchange in suburban Cobb County, which isn't served by Atlanta's rapid transit system." Some dining and shopping retailers at the Braves complex "will be ready for the start of the season." Others will "open later in the year." The Omni Hotel behind the center field wall is set to open in early '18 (AP, 3/29). In Atlanta, David Wickert wrote there is a reason the Braves and Cobb County have "paid so much attention to people arriving in cars: They expect nearly everyone to arrive that way." But Cobb County also "expects more people to arrive on foot or bike than by mass transit." As time goes on, there will be "limited transit options for getting to the park" (AJC.com, 3/29).

EXPECTED FAN ARRIVAL AT SUNTRUST PARK
TRANSPORTATION
PERCENTAGE
Personal Vehicles
82%
Taxi/Rideshare
6%
Coporate Shuttles
5%
Pedestrian/Bicyclists
4%
Charter Bus
2%
Transit
1%


LAYING THE HAMMER DOWN: In Birmingham, Mark Inabinett notes the Braves "unveiled a key feature of their new ballpark" yesterday -- a statue of Baseball HOFer Hank Aaron. The bronze statue, which was sculpted by Atlanta-based artist Ross Rossin, stands 9 feet tall and "weighs seven tons." The unveiling was part of, "An Evening with Hank Aaron," which served as a fundraiser for his Chasing the Dream Foundation (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 3/30).

MORE LOVE FOR MIXED USE: In Ft. Worth, Robert Cadwallader notes more than 150 people gathered yesterday in a parking lot outside Globe Life Park for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the $250M Texas Live! entertainment complex, with "hopes that it will be open in time" for the '18 MLB season. The 200,000-square-foot venue will "include a luxury 300-room high-rise hotel plus 35,000 square feet of meeting/convention space." Texas Live!, being developed by the Rangers and The Cordish Cos., will be located between Globe Life Park and the site for the $1B "retractable-roof stadium that will be built for the Rangers" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/30).

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