Home Of The Braves: Team To Bring AAA Club Home To New Stadium
The Braves and Gwinnett County (GA) officials yesterday announced the team will move their Triple-A Int'l League affiliate from Richmond to a new stadium being built near the Mall of Georgia for the '09 season, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. The Braves have signed a 30-year lease with the county and they will be responsible for the "routine costs of maintaining" the facility. As with Turner Field, the Braves "won't own -- or pay to build -- the Gwinnett stadium," but in return for rent payments, the club will "retain most of the revenue it generates." Gwinnett County Administrator Jock Connell estimated land and construction costs for the county-owned stadium at $45M. He said that the county would "contribute $12[M] from tax funds earmarked for recreation and would finance the other $33[M] with bonds to be paid off from revenue generated by the stadium." Tucker reports the county will be responsible for "capital improvements," and it has the "right to sell naming rights to the stadium" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/16). In Richmond, Ress & Martz note that the Braves' departure from Richmond comes "after months of waiting for a ballpark proposal promised" by Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder and "years of talks over failed proposals for a stadium downtown." Wilder said that other teams approached city officials recently but that it "did not actively pursue the opportunity because they believed they were negotiating in good faith" with the Braves (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 1/16).
NEW DEVELOPMENT: In Atlanta, Kevin Duffy reported that the Atlanta school board could vote "as early as next month on whether to allow some future school taxes to be spent" on a proposed mixed-use development near Turner Field. The city's redevelopment plans for the ballpark area call for "replacing 46 acres of surface parking with structured parking to free up space for mixed-use development" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/15).
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Charlotte Knights Receive Approval From County
Commission To Build Downtown Ballpark |
CHARLOTTE BALLPARK: In Charlotte, April Bethea reports that Mecklenburg County (NC) commissioners yesterday approved a lease that will allow the Triple-A Int’l League Charlotte Knights to build a downtown ballpark in the city "in hopes of playing in Charlotte by 2009." The approval comes amid lawsuits from Charlotte-based real estate attorney Jerry Reese, who believes Charlotte "could attract a major-league team and that local leaders are short-sighted in giving up valuable county land for a minor league stadium" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/16).
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