17 July 2018

Play Ball! New Case Getting Built for Commercial Real Estate Development Around Baseball Stadiums

Chasing another scheme in The Field of Dreams, except there's one snag and that's after Mesa taxpayers were snookered and fooled in 2012 by City Manager Chris Brady's scoring Wrigleyville as $200-million dollar outfield hit Sloan Park @ Riverview. Public benefits? (Not included) . . . just another one of those 'could-be' media-hype hooplas or a prime contender for one more Field of Dreams? 
This time around plans could land in an Opportunity Zone where private investors can get in-the-game in one qualified area where prognosticators have already started to highlight a handful of areas in Maricopa County that are primed for a stadium-sized project – and the accompanying CRE explosion:

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, a 53.6K-acre reservation directly east of Scottsdale, is arguably the foremost contender. Just south of it is one Ozone in Mesa.
The Baseball Stadium Could Boost CRE Investment
By Richard Sarkis for Reonomy
"Despite a recent resurgence in form – their 93-69 record was good enough for fifth-best in the Majors last year – the Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled to fill seats at Chase Field. During the D-back’s 81 home games in the 2017 season, average attendance stood at a meager 26,350, just 54.2 percent of capacity – fifth-worst in the Majors.
Similar struggles this season – the D-backs are filling 53.1 percent of seats, on average, through 32 home games – have team executives itching to downsize, a move that became a very real option in the wake of a vote by the Maricopa County Stadium Board of Directors in early May.
By a vote of 4-1, the Board agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding dictating that the County will provide “no new public money (for) maintenance, repair, or stadium upgrades,” settling a lawsuit filed by the D-back’s ownership that claimed the County owed them $187M in maintenance costs. In exchange, the D-backs will be allowed “to explore alternatives to rebuild (Chase Field) or to relocate.” While the team’s lease on Chase Field runs through the 2027 season, it now has the option to move to a new facility within Maricopa County as soon as 2022 without penalty. . .
Read more >> http://azbex.com/baseball-stadium-could-boost-cre-investment/
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ktar.com/story/.../arizona-cities-tribes-sign-on-to-spur-development-of-rio-salado/
Apr 2, 2018 - John McCain of Arizona to revitalize the Rio Salado took another ... Flash flood warning issued through Sunday night for Flagstaff area · KTAR.com ... greater economic development and recreation opportunities for our ... Buckeye, Mesa, Phoenix, Tempe and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.