Overhaul of Diamond is last plan standing
DEAN HOFFMEYER/TIMES-DISPATCH
With the Shockoe Center dead, a proposal to transform The Diamond and bring baseball back to Richmond is now the only game in town.
DIAMOND RENEWAL
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A plan for baseball in Shockoe Bottom has struck out again.
Developers of the proposed Shockoe Center project announced yesterday that they're walking away from the project, as well as a proposal for development along the Boulevard.
"We have carried these projects as far as our collaborative team can under the present circumstances," the group led by Highwoods Properties said in a statement.
The developers lamented that their efforts to revitalize Shockoe Bottom and the Boulevard with about $800 million of development were "overshadowed by debate over the ballpark."
The collapse of Shockoe Center leaves Opening Day Partners' $28 million plan to overhaul The Diamond as the only publicly released plan for a ballpark in Richmond.
On Shockoe Center's demise, the Highwoods developers added that the "good faith" but ultimately unsuccessful effort by a group of local investors to buy a baseball team had "fundamentally altered the way minor-league baseball will now return to Richmond. The city will need to negotiate directly with any new team owner on such issues as location, timing and financing of a new ballpark."
Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League are in the process of identifying a franchise to relocate to Richmond with current or new ownership. An Aug. 1 deadline to clarify those issues is in effect.
In a statement yesterday, Mayor Dwight C. Jones praised the Shockoe Center developers for their vision, and he underscored their conclusion that ballpark financing "is just not possible in today's revenue bond market."
"At this time, the situation affords us an avenue to fully re-engage our regional partners in the discussion of the direction we, as a region, wish to move in," Jones said. "We know there is excitement about Richmond as a baseball town and we have a commitment from the Eastern League that there will be a team on the ground in The Diamond next spring.
"What we must do now is to determine what our long-term solution will be and the best way to go about accomplishing that goal."
The $318 million Shockoe Center project was announced last October after then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder selected Highwoods Properties as the master developer for city property in Shockoe Bottom and on the Boulevard following a request for proposals. Wilder had nixed another private proposal for baseball in Shockoe Bottom earlier in his term.
Jones took office in January and proceeded cautiously on Shockoe Center, initially persuading the developers to push back a deadline for preliminary city approval from March 1 to Aug. 1.
The idea of baseball in the Bottom had its supporters as well as its critics, many of whom argued that Richmond's plans for baseball should focus on refurbishing or replacing The Diamond, the longtime home of the Richmond Braves' home on the Boulevard.
In March, the Jones administration hired consultants to review the financial viability of Shockoe Center, specifically its plan to finance the $60 million ballpark without city backing using tax revenues generated by restaurants, residences and other new private development around it.
However, the consultants, led by Davenport & Co., concluded that the project would be "highly feasible" with city credit support and "highly unlikely" to be financed otherwise.
In yesterday's statement, the developers said the study "validated our fundamental premise" for ballpark financing and acknowledged that the plan "is not possible in today's revenue bond market." The developers emphasized that they had never intended to pursue financing in the current market.
"We are convinced, however, that the coming economic recovery would allow revenue bonds to be sold without the city's general obligation backing, possibly as early as next year," the statement said. "We have always maintained that the city's debt capacity should be used for public projects like schools, streets and a new jail, and not for a new ballpark."
Last month, Jones called on the Shockoe Center developers and other groups to resolve differences between their plans for Shockoe Bottom. Those projects also include high-speed rail, the city's slave trail and a bus-transfer center in the train shed at Main Street Station.
In their statement, the Shockoe Center developers said they had reached a preliminary agreement allowing their project and the bus transfer center to co-exist. They also noted that they had dropped Shockoe Center's $90 million third phase to accommodate the slave-trail project and related activities to commemorate the area's importance in black history.
"We believe heritage is compatible with baseball, high-speed rail and some level of bus transit," the Shockoe Center developers said. "However, all of these issues require further research, and important decisions must be made by all stakeholders before the private sector can be truly effective in the process."
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or
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Reader Reactions
This should be a AAA team, not AA.
DDub, et al,
If it’s true that Richmond is a poor sports town, it’s not only because they don’t like specific sports that you might like. We happen to live in an area where there are literally tons and tons of things to do outdoors in addition to the traditional sports. With virtually everyone working in families nowadays, time is the critical issue for many and with things like: Chesapeake Bay boating, swimming, owning a home at the river, canoeing, kyaking the rivers, lakes, hiking, camping, sightseeing, the Blue Ridge mountains, tons of history to see, a climate that is reltively mild with what passes at best for a modest winter and many other things like beaches and trips to nearby states, Washington DC and their museums, etc., the real issue is competition for what free time there is with way more alternatives than some other areas can offer. We also have quite easy access to several colleges with their sports: basketball, football, baseball, etc. all within easy driving, Two major amusement parks about 40 miles in different directions, a race track for horse racing and a couple of car racing tracks: soutside and the big one for Nascar which is a small Nascar track but gets a lot of attention.
Try living in the frigid north some time then move here and the whole world of outdoor opportunity opens up to you. Makes baseball and some other things have to compete for your free time because the choices are so many here. It’s not just about baseball or other pro sports, it’s about the use of scarce free time.
Richmond got a lovely “D-“ (yea that’s minus) in Men’s Health top 100 sports towns. Looks like even they notice how crappy of a sportstown this place is with the whole Braves and now stadium debacle.
I worked (past tense, will not be returning) in minor league baseball, which offers me a greater perspective on the business model of minor league baseball. I can tell you that a LOT of non-baseball fans go to minor league games.
I never said that your minority group of choice is interested in baseball, so go ahead an maintain it. I said that they will benefit from all the people that are, and that come and spend money in the city that generate taxes for the city.
What support do you see for the Slave Trail (and that is DEFINITELY not his idea, by the way, attributing it to a criminal is an injustice to all the people who have worked on the project)? I’ve seen people who are against the baseball stadium pick up the posters for the Slave Trail, but i’ve seen far less involved in the slave trail beyond that.
As far as the “minority” interest in the slave trail, I think they’d find more identification with the civil rights movement, especially that put forth by one Jackie Robinson. What better way to honor that tradition than by placing a ballpark near a museum commemorating the slave trail. Maybe that will even drum up some interest in that community, since baseball is where the battle line was drawn to integrate sports.
The Diamond refurb is a temporary fix, it is not a solution.
OutOfLeftField,
You are obviously a baseball fan thru all levels, so is it possible that you have a biased perspective? I am not a fan, so maybe I do as well. However, I maintain the argument that Blacks (yeah, there is that word again), on average don’t fine much value in MILB, especially city residents, when it comes to spending public money. There is more support in the minority (new word) community for Saad Al-Amin’s Slave trail. That should tell you something…and he’s a criminal. Anyhow, the point seems moot. Looks like a plan is going to be offered to refurn the Diamond with just 75K of city money. That seems reasonable.
I’m a suburbanite, I love the city. I’d love to have more reasons to go there. I’d love if one of those reasons was baseball.
I’m not sure I’ve read the word Black or Blacks so many times in one paragraph. It was utterly distracting, and I think your reasoning for shutting out the majority of the MRA population is just as racist as focusing on why baseball isn’t good for “Blacks,“ and therefore the entire metro Richmond area.
Honestly, if you get people spending money IN the city of Richmond, it benefits that segment of the population you’re favoring. Those suburbanites aren’t drawing on the taxes, yet they’re contributing to the tax-base with their purchases.
I didn’t dispute your claims of TV popularity, I said it doesn’t matter. Neither does whether a minor league team wins or loses. If you look up R-Braves attedance, you’ll find no correlation of attendance to championship seasons. People don’t attend MiLB just because they’re winning, its a social event that’s outside on a summer evening, and not too costly. Its entertainment and its cheaper than those darn movie theaters (10 bucks?!).
Also, as far as roster shuffling goes…they don’t change all that much. And at AA, most of the “shuffling” is for the better…hot prospects are rarely moved to AAA unless they’ve been designated for a holding pattern.
Point being: MiLB is not MLB because people go for different reasons, not because the games aren’t as good. I’d argue that the games are better.
Squier13,
You make some good points but I still am going to stick to my theories.
Yes, if you include the metro area, Blacks are not the majority. I don’t know the number of Blacks in Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, but the eyeball test tells me maybe 10-15%, if that. My point was that since Richmond is over 50% Black, and the city of Richmond would have the lions share of investment versus the counties, I do not see much Black support for an new stadium that will be sparsely attended among Black for a game they have little connection. Baseball is probably a few % points over NASCAR in Black sports popularity, with the majority of Black baseball fans over 40+. I won’t dig into why this is, but just take a poll yourself if you know any Blacks and get their opinions. So my point is that it will be hard to get public support among Black city residents for this allocation of money or whatever plan the City adopts. Yes, in order for this metro area to revitalize itself we need suburbanites to have a reason to visit other than work, I just think among Black residents it is like 10th on the list of needs in the city.
As far as my statement regarding baseball’s popularity? I am correct in saying it is declining in TV ratings, attendance, and among the youth. The world series got horrible rating this past year (partly because the games started so late), and it is a fact the best athletes are playing football and basketball-which have become full time sports in many regards. I have many theories how to “save baseball” I might share in a different post. Also, Minor League baseball is not MLB, but because it is not it is hard to really take it seriously with all the roster shuffling and all. It is really there to develop players, and winning is almost secondary. Therefore, few games are a “must see”.
As far as the city being “scary” for suburbanites? That is real. Take a poll. Many feel that crime is rampant in Richmond. I know that is not true, but it is a real obstacle out there. Ask around and let me kknow what your findings are…
Actually, dubious, for the stadium to work, we’d need about 500k people from the MRA to go to a game. Considering the MRA is 1.2 million, that means less than half the population needs to go to ONE game.
All those ‘empty nesters’ of which you speak don’t leave the pool of possible attendees just because their kids are at home - in fact, if their kids are grown, they may have kids of their own. When they come to visit grandma and grandpa, guess what?! Family trip to the ballgame which now has 10 people instead of 4.
Also, just curious, what you say “Richmond is over 50% black” do you mean the city of Richmond, or the entire 1.2 million that includes Chesterfield and Henrico (aka - the metro richmond area)? The reason I ask is that the city of Richmond accounts for 1/6 the population of the MRA.
This site suggests that you are only talking about the city of Richmond, and that the MRA demographics tell a much different story: http://intranet.grpva.com/intranet/WEB2002/Populationx_r.asp
Lastly, minor league baseball (for the 20th time) is not major league baseball. Its performance doesn’t correlate to MLB, and it certainly doesn’t correlate to what people are watching on tv (esp. since minor league baseball is rarely on tv). In fact, for the past 2 seasons, MiLB has reported growth in total attendance. Point being - baseball doesn’t have to be America’s favorite pastime for MiLB to succeed.
I also disagree with you about the ‘suburban fear’ of the city, but I can’t back that argument up with facts so I’ll leave it at that.
“That’s about all I can write at this point because I’m so unbelievably furious at the level of mediocrity that seems to be acceptable to our leaders and our citizens.“
**************************
Your fury is sadly misdirected.
Neither our leaders nor our fellow Richmonders were responsible for this deal falling apart. The simple facts are that A) Bryan Bostic did not have enough money to buy a baseball team, and B) Highwoods did not have enough money to build the development they proposed.
City Hall went $250,000 out of its way to make this deal happen. The Mayor was behind it, as was the developer-friendly city council.
If there’s anyone to be mad at here, it is Bryan Bostic and Paul Kreckman at Highwoods for wasting our time and money with this ludicrous project proposal based on contrived and fantastically optimistic financing numbers.
There is a lesson to be learned here of course. That is: let’s be a little more skeptical the next time the snake oil salesmen come calling.
I agree with the author who said Richmond lacks identity. It does have the distinction of being “The Capitol of the Confederacy”, but for a city that is over 50% Black, that is a never going help unify communities.
As for the ballpark, I really wonder how many posters on this board would really attend regularly? In order for the ballpark to work, there has to be season ticket holders, and a steady stream of regular walk-up customers. Most of us work like a dog or have kids so aside from a few times per season, how many people really are going to go regularly.
I think people are more interested in modernizing the city versus attending ballgames.
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