Spring training is "closer than ever to returning to West Palm Beach following the Palm Beach County commission’s approval" yesterday of "final operating agreements" with the Astros and Nationals, according to a front-page piece by Joe Capozzi of the PALM BEACH POST. The teams will share a $135M complex "on 160 acres ... for 30 years," starting in January '17. But to meet that deadline, the Astros and Nationals "need to break ground by the middle of October." Before they can break ground, "two key steps remain." The West Palm Beach City Commission on Aug. 31 "must ratify a land swap that will give the county the 160-acre site" and the County Commission "must issue construction bonds; that vote is tentatively set for Sept. 22." The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity also "must issue a certification letter to the county, reinforcing the state’s pledge to contribute" $50M to the project. That is "considered a formality, since Gov. Rick Scott has made two public appearances in West Palm Beach" to pledge his support. Once the letter is received, the county will "formally set the project budget" at $135M, which is being financed in part by $108M in revenue over the next 30 years "from a county tax on hotels and motels." The final operating agreements approved yesterday include the teams’ "commitment to contribute" $68.8M -- annual average of lease payments of $2.4M that "will be applied to debt service for the construction bonds." In return for the city giving the county the land, the city "will get 1.8 acres of county-owned land on the west side of downtown," and the teams "will build the city a 12-acre park next to the baseball complex" (PALM BEACH POST, 8/19). In DC, Chelsea Janes notes the Astros and Nationals "have selected" architectural firm HKS "to oversee the project." Planners have "produced initial plans for the facility," which will bring the Nationals and Astros "within a half hour’s drive" of the Marlins, Cardinals and Mets (WASHINGTON POST, 8/19).
APPETITE FOR CONSTRUCTION: In Ft. Lauderdale, Andy Reid notes local business leaders "pushed for the new stadium as a way to boost tourism and encourage" the two other local spring training teams, the Marlins and Cardinals, "to stay." Public backlash to traffic and other intrusions "squashed an earlier push for a stadium in Palm Beach Gardens and the teams balked at building a stadium at the county's John Prince Park in Lake Worth." Cleaning up the old dump site "to ready it for construction is expected to cost" about $11M (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 8/19).
