Nationals Withhold Rent, Claim Nationals Park Not Yet Finished
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Nationals Claiming Ballpark Still
Incomplete, Withholding $3.5M In Rent |
Nationals owners have "failed to pay $3.5[M] in rent" for Nationals Park, contending that the ballpark "is still incomplete," according to a Metro section front-page piece by LeDuc & Nakamura of the WASHINGTON POST. The team also is "demanding damages of $100,000 a day, dating from March 1," when the city, which oversaw construction of the stadium, was "contractually obligated to hand the keys" to Nationals Owners the Lerner family. The disagreement centers on "whether the ballpark was 'substantially complete'" on March 1. DC Council Chair Vincent Gray said of the Nationals, "They are playing games there; the fans are paying the money to see the games; and no one I know of has asked for a refund." Gray added the team "ought to pay the rent for the facility they are using. The city is banking on this revenue. ... It seems unreasonable at this stage that the team would not fulfill its obligation." The Lerners, because they "view the project as incomplete," have "refused to pay $3.5[M] in rent, asked for damages and demanded that the city pay for various items that remain in dispute, including LED lights used in the scoreboard." But construction officials said that "all revenue-generating portions of the ballpark were completed well before Opening Day" on March 30. The Nationals and the city also are "at odds over the timing of sales tax payments on tickets, with the Nationals paying game-by-game and the city wanting tax revenue from pre-sold ticket packages upfront." Sources said that the Lerners are making game-by-game payments instead of "turning over the tax money as soon as the bulk of full- and partial-season ticket packages were sold last winter and spring." But DC, which "paid more than $611[M] in public money" to build the facility, is "counting on the rent and sales tax, along with a special tax on city businesses, to help pay off construction bonds for the ballpark." DC Acting Attorney General Peter Nickels: "We feel the stadium is substantially complete and that we'll be able to work it out" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/11).
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