Play Ball on the Boulevard

There is a movement afoot in our fair city to place a $388-million office/retail/restaurant/hotel development in Shockoe Bottom. At the very center of this development is a proposed $70-million baseball complex that the master develop ers of the entire project argue will be the answer to the question of growth in Shockoe Bottom.

I, and those who have joined a Facebook page entitled, "I support baseball on the Boulevard," are politely opposed to this project and to the -- seemingly -- afterthought of a project that has been proposed by the same developers for the site of The Diamond and the Arthur Ashe Center on the Boulevard.

The citizens of our city are being asked to issue $70 million in bonds to finance the construction of the baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom. No AAA stadium built in the past 10 years has cost more than $45 million.

This bond issuance amounts to a loan request and we, as the bankers in the deal, need to have much more input than we have been asked for thus far.

Bryan Bostic, the leader of a group working to purchase a AA baseball franchise, tells us that his team will be an economic generator for the immediate area in and around Shockoe Bottom.

We are further informed that 192,400 square feet of retail and restaurant space as well as offices, condos, hotels, and apartments, will grow in an area that has for the past 20 years proven to be a dangerous place to invest -- at best.

We, the bankers, need to hold a loan committee meeting and examine very carefully what is being offered as collateral. If, in the end, this project does not produce the projected $8.1 million per annum in tax revenue that the developer states that it will, who will be left holding the bag?

The answer is an all too familiar: We the people.

The Richmond Metropolitan Authority (RMA) owns a well-located piece of land -- with The Diamond at its center -- that has for many years served our area well as a place for families to go to a ballgame and enjoy a great evening.

The means of ingress and egress to The Diamond are obviously better than those in the Bottom. County residents, who made up two-thirds of the Richmond Braves fan base over the years, are represented on the RMA, and many of them can access the Boulevard ballpark much easier than they could the alternate site.

Richmonders -- and that term must include our county neighbors for us to truly achieve regional cooperation -- need a baseball team, and for that matter a truly great place for that team to play and for us to congregate to spend family time on a spring or summer evening.

The organic development along the Boulevard and in nearby Scott's Addition that has taken place over the past years proves that it is a place on the precipice of greatness. Let's use property we already own -- and a facility we already own -- and by citizen agreement either build a new stadium on the ground where The Diamond stands now or rehabilitate The Diamond.

Here are the actions that a truly great metropolitan area should undertake immediately: The mayor and the City Council should rescind the request for proposal (RFP) issued by the previous administration. All nine city council persons should hold town-hall style meetings to discern what their residents want and where they want it.

The mayor should host meetings with the county managers of Richmond's neighbors to discover what those counties' interests would be in taking part in a ballpark proposal. Finally, after all of us have had an opportunity to express our opinions, a truly well-vetted RFP should be issued based on what the citizens want.

Representative democracy has a real chance to shine at this moment in our region's history. Let us take this opportunity to come together and do what is in the best interest of all and not a few.

Baseball on the Boulevard has a long and storied past. Let us provide a new generation of Richmonders a baseball venue planned and built with common sense and common goals.

To close, I revive Mayor Dwight Jones' words from a stump speech during last year's election campaign: Richmond should be developed by design and not by default.

Wise words. Let's use them in this process as we move forward.

Charlie Diradour is president of Lion's Paw Development in Richmond and founder of www.baseballontheboulevard.com and the Facebook site "I support baseball on the Boulevard." Contact him at charlie@lionspawdevelopment.com.