Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell yesterday "threw some cold
water" on builder Daniel Keating's proposal to build a downtown
ballpark, according to the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Rendell
prefaced his remarks by saying he had no preference where a park
was built, but added talk of a location was premature until
funding is in place. He noted a downtown site, as opposed to a
complex in South Philadelphia, would be more expensive. Rendell:
"The good thing about a new stadium down near the Vet ... is that
we have the infrastructure. ... To add a stadium downtown, which
may be desirable, would add tens of millions of dollars to our
overall costs." At a press conference yesterday, Keating said
his project is in line with Rendell's efforts to turn the city
into a "destination city," and added he does not "share that
view" with Rendell on cost (Sokolove & Goodman, PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER, 8/21). Rendell's Chief of Staff David Cohen said a
downtown ballpark would have an extra $100-200M in infrastructure
costs (Mark McDonald, PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 8/21). Ed Moran notes
which Philadelphia team gets a new stadium "could come down to
which franchise owner can line up the most investors" (PHILA.
DAILY NEWS, 8/21).
LUXURY TAX: The INQUIRER's Andrea Knox examines the prices
of box seats and luxury suites at the new CoreStates Center.
Prices range from $9,500 to $155,000 per season, and CoreStates
goal is to generate $25M in annual revenue from the seats.
CoreStates VP/Marketing & Sales Bob Schwartz said they are
"about" 80-85% toward that goal (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/21).
