A Class AA franchise has been designated for relocation to Richmond in 2010. But the Eastern League still is not ready to identify that franchise despite the league's goal of an announcement by Aug. 1.
The modified timetable should not be interpreted as a sign of a problem with baseball's return to Richmond next season, according to Joe McEacharn, the Eastern League president.
"We are still in the day-to-day process of trying to finalize our agreements and get everything in place," McEacharn said yesterday. "There are always a lot of unique circumstances to any relocation. It starts with ownership and investment, and the more moving parts you have . . . baseball is a heavily regulated business for the protection of all.
"We've gotten through almost all of this. We're finding there's a little more to it than what would typically be the case. We're spending that time to make sure we get everything completed."
Several sources said the Connecticut franchise, contractually bound to the San Francisco Giants through next season, will relocate to Richmond with Chuck Domino supervising the management team. Domino is the president of the Class AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Class AA Reading Phillies.
McEacharn said he would not identify the franchise that will relocate or the management team "until we have it signed, sealed and delivered."
The Richmond Metropolitan Authority, owner and operator of The Diamond, continues to negotiate lease terms with the franchise, according to Mike Berry, the RMA's general manager.
"I think we certainly have it in pretty good shape, but nothing definite at this point. Nothing signed, nothing planned to be signed," Berry said of a lease agreement.
The Diamond will be home to the new franchise for at least two years, with Richmond's long-term ballpark situation still unresolved.
"We anticipate starting that process as soon as we get there and are up and running," McEacharn said.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Eastern League “closing in” on announcement of Richmond’s new baseball franchise
Behind-the-scenes work apparently has already started as The Diamond readies for Richmond's next professional baseball team. Sources said it will be the Class AA franchise now based in Connecticut.
Those involved with the relocation process have been told by Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League not to comment publicly on the move until it is formally announced, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn said.
Renovation of The Diamond's executive offices will be a priority following an announcement of franchise relocation for next season. McEacharn said yesterday that "the people who we anticipate coming down there are actively involved" in making arrangements for computer service, phone service and other business necessities in The Diamond's front office.
"It is my understanding that there have been some contacts relative to doing some things, carpet, [phone and computer] hook-ups and things like that," said Mike Berry, general manager of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which owns and operates The Diamond.
McEacharn reiterated that Richmond's new franchise and its ownership group will be announced by Aug. 1. He chose not to reveal the franchise or ownership team yesterday and said the announcement is "unlikely" this week. "We're closing in," McEacharn said. "We're dotting I's and crossing T's and all that stuff. We don't have anything to announce yet, but we continue to work toward that."
The Connecticut franchise will move to Richmond with Lou DiBella remaining as managing partner, said sources, and with a management team involving Chuck Domino, president of the Class AA Reading franchise (Philadelphia Phillies) and the Class AAA Lehigh Valley franchise (Philadelphia Phillies). Domino, who has worked in professional baseball for 27 years, was Reading's general manager 1988-2006. He won several national awards for franchise management.
Connecticut has been an Eastern League member since 1995. The franchise is contractually bound to be the San Francisco Giants' Class AA affiliate through next season. A local ownership group, Richmond Baseball Club LC, in May failed
to meet the purchase price of $15.4 million for that franchise.
"We will wait for Minor League Baseball to assign the region a team, and then that team will sit down with the RMA and enter into a lease agreement," said James L. Jenkins, chairman of the RMA's board of directors. "Then the process will go forward with an initial refurbishing of The Diamond."
The Diamond's refurbishment would be an upgrade to make it usable for at least the next two seasons. A long-term ballpark solution has not yet been determined. Peter Kirk's Opening Day Partners submitted a $28 million plan for a transformation of The Diamond in early June to city and county officials. Kirk yesterday said he has not heard from those officials.
McEacharn said that Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League have agreed on the franchise to be relocated to Richmond but "there are always a whole bunch of
legal [issues] to work through . . . We have a plan and we're trying to finalize that plan. And we always have contingencies."
Connecticut was one of a few Eastern League franchises that expressed an interest in relocating to Richmond, sources said. Jenkins said seven groups toured The Diamond. That number includes representatives of franchises that were interested in relocation as well as members of potential ownership groups.
Those involved with the relocation process have been told by Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League not to comment publicly on the move until it is formally announced, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn said.
Renovation of The Diamond's executive offices will be a priority following an announcement of franchise relocation for next season. McEacharn said yesterday that "the people who we anticipate coming down there are actively involved" in making arrangements for computer service, phone service and other business necessities in The Diamond's front office.
"It is my understanding that there have been some contacts relative to doing some things, carpet, [phone and computer] hook-ups and things like that," said Mike Berry, general manager of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which owns and operates The Diamond.
McEacharn reiterated that Richmond's new franchise and its ownership group will be announced by Aug. 1. He chose not to reveal the franchise or ownership team yesterday and said the announcement is "unlikely" this week. "We're closing in," McEacharn said. "We're dotting I's and crossing T's and all that stuff. We don't have anything to announce yet, but we continue to work toward that."
The Connecticut franchise will move to Richmond with Lou DiBella remaining as managing partner, said sources, and with a management team involving Chuck Domino, president of the Class AA Reading franchise (Philadelphia Phillies) and the Class AAA Lehigh Valley franchise (Philadelphia Phillies). Domino, who has worked in professional baseball for 27 years, was Reading's general manager 1988-2006. He won several national awards for franchise management.
Connecticut has been an Eastern League member since 1995. The franchise is contractually bound to be the San Francisco Giants' Class AA affiliate through next season. A local ownership group, Richmond Baseball Club LC, in May failed
to meet the purchase price of $15.4 million for that franchise.
"We will wait for Minor League Baseball to assign the region a team, and then that team will sit down with the RMA and enter into a lease agreement," said James L. Jenkins, chairman of the RMA's board of directors. "Then the process will go forward with an initial refurbishing of The Diamond."
The Diamond's refurbishment would be an upgrade to make it usable for at least the next two seasons. A long-term ballpark solution has not yet been determined. Peter Kirk's Opening Day Partners submitted a $28 million plan for a transformation of The Diamond in early June to city and county officials. Kirk yesterday said he has not heard from those officials.
McEacharn said that Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League have agreed on the franchise to be relocated to Richmond but "there are always a whole bunch of
legal [issues] to work through . . . We have a plan and we're trying to finalize that plan. And we always have contingencies."
Connecticut was one of a few Eastern League franchises that expressed an interest in relocating to Richmond, sources said. Jenkins said seven groups toured The Diamond. That number includes representatives of franchises that were interested in relocation as well as members of potential ownership groups.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Sees Downtown Redevelopment on Track
ORLANDO, FL) -- Downtown Orlando's estimated $2 billion redevelopment program is on track - not all completed but not totally bogged down, either.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
That's the assessment of Mayor Buddy Dyer who has been pushing the program since he took office six years ago.
"Under the economic circumstances and based on factors that we can control, I am confident that we will be in a better position than any other (comparable sized) city in America" to complete the program when the economy returns to some degree of normalcy, Dyer says.
He offered his analysis of the city's redevelopment progress in an exclusive phone interview with Real Estate Channel. Dyer commented specifically on 11 projects considered crucial to Downtown redevelopment.
He says the under-construction, $380 million, 800,000-square-foot Orlando Events Center at 300 West Church St. will be "a landmark structure...a building visitors and residents will immediately identify with Orlando."
The building is tentatively scheduled to replace Amway Arena in fourth quarter 2010. It will have an on-site parking garage, an amenity the old arena does not have.
"It's on schedule and under budget," the mayor says.
Orlando Events Center
The Center will be the new home of the Orlando Magic, the city's only top-tier professional sports team. Dyer says he has heard no rumblings of the city discussing future prospects for a National Football League team. An Orlando-based United States Football League team will open its season here later this year.
Not only will Orlando Events Center be twice the size of Amway Arena but it will be high-tech wired.
"The building will be part of the new wave" of electronics that is being installed in newer commercial and entertainment properties across the country, Dyer says.
Orlando Events Center will also complement a three-year-old dream the mayor has had for a project tentatively identified as Creative Village.
New Events Center under construction (April 2009)
The proposed site is the Centroplex property which houses the current arena. Besides the 53 acres at that site, the city also owns an additional 60 acres nearby.
In talks to city groups and leaders, Dyer has previously described Creative Village as "a place where high-tech, digital media and creative industry companies integrate with residential, retail and academia in a neighborhood that is connected to the surrounding community and globally plugged in."
It would revitalize the economically depressed Parramore neighborhood, a goal that numerous city administrations have embraced for at least 50 years and specifically for the last 20 years.
The estimated development cost of Creative Village hasn't been determined. But according to the Downtown Development Board, the city could be in a position to send out requests for proposals to the development community by the end of this year or early 2010.
Creative Village
i.d.e.a.s., a seven-year-old privately owned digital media production company, already has positioned itself to complement the Creative Village concept.
The company, purchased by Bob Allen in a management-lead buyout from the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando in July 2001, had its grand opening May 21 at its new world headquarters at 64 E. Concord St., the former Downtown site of News Channel 13.
Besides the Creative Village dream, Dyer says another long-expressed Downtown desire by residents and visitors alike, was a grocery store.
Interactive Creative Village - Potential public park along Livingston Street
Publix opened a 28,900-square-foot store in third quarter 2008 at The Paramount, a $125 million, 16-story, 809,310-square-foot mixed-use community facing Lake Eola in the 400 block of East Central Boulevard.
"I can't tell you how many times residents had stopped me after I took office six years ago and asked me when they would get a Downtown grocery," Dyer recalls.
The Paramount was developed by N-K Ventures, RMC Property Group and ZOM Inc. Besides its 313 residential condominiums and apartments on floors five to 16, the building also has 11,300 square feet of office space and another 5,100 square feet of occupied retail space.
The Plaza Cinema
Also on the commercial real estate side, Dyer says he is pleased the city participated in the development of The Plaza, a $90 million, two-block, 2.9-acre, 447,000-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment in the heart of the central business district at 101 South Orange Ave.
"The Plaza was the catalyst for all Downtown redevelopment that followed," says Dyer. "The Plaza showed investors for the first time that the city was willing to participate" in new major projects that would reshape the look of Downtown.
"It was the Phoenix that rose from the ashes of that once-blighted block" and emerged as a beacon for other planned projects, the mayor says.
The Plaza, completed in first quarter 2007, boasts 394,000 square feet of office space and 53,000 square feet of retail space.
The Plaza Cinema
The structure encompasses two high-rise condominium office towers, 16 stories and 21 stories, and a 29-story residential condo tower.
A highlight in The Plaza's three-year development comes Thursday, May 28, when the 12 Plaza Cinema Café opens its doors to the general public.
A soft opening is scheduled for May 25. It will mark the first Downtown movie theater in at least 40 years.
Dynetech Centre, which opened in second quarter 2008 at 111 East Washington St. in the central business district, is still another Downtown mixed-use structure the city helped in its development stages.
"It's well designed and offers residents from The Vue (condominium) a great view" of Downtown, Dyer says. The property was redeveloped from a two-deck, 88-car public parking garage.
The $80 million, 31-story, 161,000-square-foot building houses the international headquarters of Dynetech Corp. in 60,000 square feet of office space.
The building also has 164 apartment units, a total 150,000 square feet of office space and 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Downtown Orlando
The city administration is particularly pleased with its participation in the development of Orlando Utilities Commission's new 10-story, 120,000-square-foot, $34 million headquarters building constructed behind OUC's existing structure at 100 W. Anderson St., also in the central business district.
The building, with 510 parking spaces, has received LEED certification, a recognition that Dyer notes to visitors and residents alike.
On the city's drawing boards are four projects awaiting improvement in the tourist hotel tax collections and the completion of Orlando Events Center.
They are the $354 million Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center to be located east of City Hall; the $175 million Citrus Bowl improvements; the $12 million Wells Landing; and the $36 million Renaissance at Carver Theatre. All are considered important components of near-future Downtown redevelopment.
Dr. P. Philips Orlando Performing Arts Center - Plaza View
The Arts Center was tentatively scheduled to break ground this year with an anticipated completion in 2012. But that project is on hold for now, Dyer says.
Final design work for the 750,000-square-foot Citrus Bowl could be completed by late spring 2010, the mayor estimates.
The lower bowl would be replaced and a 40,000-square foot banquet hall would be added.
New and enhanced concession stands, locker rooms and restrooms are also planned. The stadium would have 70,000 seats, 4,000 club seats.
Wells Landing still could break ground by year end with completion scheduled for third quarter 2011, Dyer says.
Dr. P. Philips Orlando Performing Arts Center - Magnolia Avenue View
The two-block revitalization project of the former Parramore Village in the South Parramore neighborhood would be a residential community offering possibly 26 single-family homes, 42 townhouses and open green space combined with a new community Park to be called Z.L. Riley Park.
Dyer calls the planned Renaissance at Carver Theatre "a pretty important project" in the whole Downtown redevelopment concept.
The proposed 11-story, 72,000-square-foot mixed-use development would offer 60,000 square feet of office space, 7,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 5,000 square feet of business incubator space and 17 residential condominiums.
Renaissance at Carver Theater would house the corporate headquarters of the Black Business Investment Fund and the banking offices of Bob Johnson's Urban Trust.
On the private commercial real estate side, only two projects surface at the moment. One is the planned Pizzuti Inc. project across from the Orange County Courthouse complex at Orange Avenue and Livingston Street.
The other is Ustler Development Inc.'s $35 million, six-story, 105,000-square-foot GAI Building planned for the southwest corner of Summerlin Avenue and South Street in the South Eola District.
GAI Consultants is the anchor tenant, taking 65,000 square feet.
Craig Ustler
"This is one of the largest lease deals in Downtown Orlando over the past several years and is very significant in the current market where there are very few users taking down large blocks of space," developer Craig Ustler tells Real Estate Channel.
Like Mayor Dyer, Ustler and his associates have participated in development and redevelopment projects Downtown and Near-Downtown for decades.
Like the mayor, Ustler feels the city has made progress on its redevelopment calendar, even though several projects remain in limbo.
Here are his thoughts:
"With regard to the progress of urban redevelopment in Downtown Orlando, we have certainly made progress and accomplished some good things over the past several years."
"There is no question that we have thousands more people living Downtown than we did in the late 1990's or early 2000's and that has made for much more of a neighborhood feel rather than just a business district. "
"Of course, some areas have been more successful than others. "
"For instance, the Thornton Park neighborhood has been the shining star. It is a great urban village with residential and commercial development with many popular restaurants, shops and entertainment options as well as the anchor of Lake Eola."
"In a broad sense, I think it is safe to say that we have 'made progress' but we are a 'work in progress' with a long way to go."
"As far as where we are in our redevelopment stage, we are a little behind the curve (many other comparable sized Downtowns across the country saw more of an 'urban boom' before the overall economic slowdown) and we are hindered by things like lack of mass transit."
"The community venues are a positive and should elevate our Downtown to a new level. If you look at redevelopment as a process that runs from early (as a 1) to mature (as a 9 or 10) we are probably at a 4 or 5."
"My line of thinking is that we will see continued Downtown redevelopment as the economy recovers."
"All of the lifestyle and demand factors point to urban infill and walkable communities. It is just a matter of executing the needed projects once the real estate cycle turns."
"I think suburban development and sprawl have gone the way of the industrial revolution and will become functionally obsolete, probably never recovering their value."
"But downtowns, and Downtown Orlando, are in good shape for the long run."
Downtown Orlando - Lake Eola
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
That's the assessment of Mayor Buddy Dyer who has been pushing the program since he took office six years ago.
"Under the economic circumstances and based on factors that we can control, I am confident that we will be in a better position than any other (comparable sized) city in America" to complete the program when the economy returns to some degree of normalcy, Dyer says.
He offered his analysis of the city's redevelopment progress in an exclusive phone interview with Real Estate Channel. Dyer commented specifically on 11 projects considered crucial to Downtown redevelopment.
He says the under-construction, $380 million, 800,000-square-foot Orlando Events Center at 300 West Church St. will be "a landmark structure...a building visitors and residents will immediately identify with Orlando."
The building is tentatively scheduled to replace Amway Arena in fourth quarter 2010. It will have an on-site parking garage, an amenity the old arena does not have.
"It's on schedule and under budget," the mayor says.
Orlando Events Center
The Center will be the new home of the Orlando Magic, the city's only top-tier professional sports team. Dyer says he has heard no rumblings of the city discussing future prospects for a National Football League team. An Orlando-based United States Football League team will open its season here later this year.
Not only will Orlando Events Center be twice the size of Amway Arena but it will be high-tech wired.
"The building will be part of the new wave" of electronics that is being installed in newer commercial and entertainment properties across the country, Dyer says.
Orlando Events Center will also complement a three-year-old dream the mayor has had for a project tentatively identified as Creative Village.
New Events Center under construction (April 2009)
The proposed site is the Centroplex property which houses the current arena. Besides the 53 acres at that site, the city also owns an additional 60 acres nearby.
In talks to city groups and leaders, Dyer has previously described Creative Village as "a place where high-tech, digital media and creative industry companies integrate with residential, retail and academia in a neighborhood that is connected to the surrounding community and globally plugged in."
It would revitalize the economically depressed Parramore neighborhood, a goal that numerous city administrations have embraced for at least 50 years and specifically for the last 20 years.
The estimated development cost of Creative Village hasn't been determined. But according to the Downtown Development Board, the city could be in a position to send out requests for proposals to the development community by the end of this year or early 2010.
Creative Village
i.d.e.a.s., a seven-year-old privately owned digital media production company, already has positioned itself to complement the Creative Village concept.
The company, purchased by Bob Allen in a management-lead buyout from the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando in July 2001, had its grand opening May 21 at its new world headquarters at 64 E. Concord St., the former Downtown site of News Channel 13.
Besides the Creative Village dream, Dyer says another long-expressed Downtown desire by residents and visitors alike, was a grocery store.
Interactive Creative Village - Potential public park along Livingston Street
Publix opened a 28,900-square-foot store in third quarter 2008 at The Paramount, a $125 million, 16-story, 809,310-square-foot mixed-use community facing Lake Eola in the 400 block of East Central Boulevard.
"I can't tell you how many times residents had stopped me after I took office six years ago and asked me when they would get a Downtown grocery," Dyer recalls.
The Paramount was developed by N-K Ventures, RMC Property Group and ZOM Inc. Besides its 313 residential condominiums and apartments on floors five to 16, the building also has 11,300 square feet of office space and another 5,100 square feet of occupied retail space.
The Plaza Cinema
Also on the commercial real estate side, Dyer says he is pleased the city participated in the development of The Plaza, a $90 million, two-block, 2.9-acre, 447,000-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment in the heart of the central business district at 101 South Orange Ave.
"The Plaza was the catalyst for all Downtown redevelopment that followed," says Dyer. "The Plaza showed investors for the first time that the city was willing to participate" in new major projects that would reshape the look of Downtown.
"It was the Phoenix that rose from the ashes of that once-blighted block" and emerged as a beacon for other planned projects, the mayor says.
The Plaza, completed in first quarter 2007, boasts 394,000 square feet of office space and 53,000 square feet of retail space.
The Plaza Cinema
The structure encompasses two high-rise condominium office towers, 16 stories and 21 stories, and a 29-story residential condo tower.
A highlight in The Plaza's three-year development comes Thursday, May 28, when the 12 Plaza Cinema Café opens its doors to the general public.
A soft opening is scheduled for May 25. It will mark the first Downtown movie theater in at least 40 years.
Dynetech Centre, which opened in second quarter 2008 at 111 East Washington St. in the central business district, is still another Downtown mixed-use structure the city helped in its development stages.
"It's well designed and offers residents from The Vue (condominium) a great view" of Downtown, Dyer says. The property was redeveloped from a two-deck, 88-car public parking garage.
The $80 million, 31-story, 161,000-square-foot building houses the international headquarters of Dynetech Corp. in 60,000 square feet of office space.
The building also has 164 apartment units, a total 150,000 square feet of office space and 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Downtown Orlando
The city administration is particularly pleased with its participation in the development of Orlando Utilities Commission's new 10-story, 120,000-square-foot, $34 million headquarters building constructed behind OUC's existing structure at 100 W. Anderson St., also in the central business district.
The building, with 510 parking spaces, has received LEED certification, a recognition that Dyer notes to visitors and residents alike.
On the city's drawing boards are four projects awaiting improvement in the tourist hotel tax collections and the completion of Orlando Events Center.
They are the $354 million Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center to be located east of City Hall; the $175 million Citrus Bowl improvements; the $12 million Wells Landing; and the $36 million Renaissance at Carver Theatre. All are considered important components of near-future Downtown redevelopment.
Dr. P. Philips Orlando Performing Arts Center - Plaza View
The Arts Center was tentatively scheduled to break ground this year with an anticipated completion in 2012. But that project is on hold for now, Dyer says.
Final design work for the 750,000-square-foot Citrus Bowl could be completed by late spring 2010, the mayor estimates.
The lower bowl would be replaced and a 40,000-square foot banquet hall would be added.
New and enhanced concession stands, locker rooms and restrooms are also planned. The stadium would have 70,000 seats, 4,000 club seats.
Wells Landing still could break ground by year end with completion scheduled for third quarter 2011, Dyer says.
Dr. P. Philips Orlando Performing Arts Center - Magnolia Avenue View
The two-block revitalization project of the former Parramore Village in the South Parramore neighborhood would be a residential community offering possibly 26 single-family homes, 42 townhouses and open green space combined with a new community Park to be called Z.L. Riley Park.
Dyer calls the planned Renaissance at Carver Theatre "a pretty important project" in the whole Downtown redevelopment concept.
The proposed 11-story, 72,000-square-foot mixed-use development would offer 60,000 square feet of office space, 7,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 5,000 square feet of business incubator space and 17 residential condominiums.
Renaissance at Carver Theater would house the corporate headquarters of the Black Business Investment Fund and the banking offices of Bob Johnson's Urban Trust.
On the private commercial real estate side, only two projects surface at the moment. One is the planned Pizzuti Inc. project across from the Orange County Courthouse complex at Orange Avenue and Livingston Street.
The other is Ustler Development Inc.'s $35 million, six-story, 105,000-square-foot GAI Building planned for the southwest corner of Summerlin Avenue and South Street in the South Eola District.
GAI Consultants is the anchor tenant, taking 65,000 square feet.
Craig Ustler
"This is one of the largest lease deals in Downtown Orlando over the past several years and is very significant in the current market where there are very few users taking down large blocks of space," developer Craig Ustler tells Real Estate Channel.
Like Mayor Dyer, Ustler and his associates have participated in development and redevelopment projects Downtown and Near-Downtown for decades.
Like the mayor, Ustler feels the city has made progress on its redevelopment calendar, even though several projects remain in limbo.
Here are his thoughts:
"With regard to the progress of urban redevelopment in Downtown Orlando, we have certainly made progress and accomplished some good things over the past several years."
"There is no question that we have thousands more people living Downtown than we did in the late 1990's or early 2000's and that has made for much more of a neighborhood feel rather than just a business district. "
"Of course, some areas have been more successful than others. "
"For instance, the Thornton Park neighborhood has been the shining star. It is a great urban village with residential and commercial development with many popular restaurants, shops and entertainment options as well as the anchor of Lake Eola."
"In a broad sense, I think it is safe to say that we have 'made progress' but we are a 'work in progress' with a long way to go."
"As far as where we are in our redevelopment stage, we are a little behind the curve (many other comparable sized Downtowns across the country saw more of an 'urban boom' before the overall economic slowdown) and we are hindered by things like lack of mass transit."
"The community venues are a positive and should elevate our Downtown to a new level. If you look at redevelopment as a process that runs from early (as a 1) to mature (as a 9 or 10) we are probably at a 4 or 5."
"My line of thinking is that we will see continued Downtown redevelopment as the economy recovers."
"All of the lifestyle and demand factors point to urban infill and walkable communities. It is just a matter of executing the needed projects once the real estate cycle turns."
"I think suburban development and sprawl have gone the way of the industrial revolution and will become functionally obsolete, probably never recovering their value."
"But downtowns, and Downtown Orlando, are in good shape for the long run."
Downtown Orlando - Lake Eola
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Independent league is ready to pitch in Richmond
Along with its plan to essentially rebuild The Diamond, Opening Day Partners would like Richmond leaders to consider putting an independent-league franchise in the made-over facility.
Minor League Baseball franchises are affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations. Independent leagues, such as the Atlantic League, are not.
Opening Day Partners, which this week released its proposal for a $28 million transformation of The Diamond, owns three of the eight Atlantic League franchises with local partners, and operates a fourth. "The Atlantic League would love to make a presentation and show Richmond how much we want to be there," said Peter Kirk, chairman of ODP. He added that the Atlantic League will make an expansion team available to Richmond for next season.
Kirk said Opening Day Partners also welcomes the opportunity to transform The Diamond for a Minor League Baseball franchise.
The Class AA Eastern League, part of Minor League Baseball, pledged to Richmond one of its 12 franchises for next season. Local investors failed in a bid to buy the Connecticut Defenders for $15.4 million. Minor League Baseball oversees a potential franchise sale and/or relocation it hopes to finalize by Aug. 1.
Eastern League President Joe McEacharn promised a "tightly managed process." Representatives of Ryan-Sanders, a well-regarded ownership group, late last month visited Richmond to investigate the situation. Reid Ryan, the firm's president, said this week "because of baseball rules, we are not allowed to comment on the market. Everything has to go through the Eastern League."
Asked for an update, McEacharn this week said "I really can't give any specifics other than to say we are continuing to explore a number of different options."
Kirk, a former owner of Baltimore Orioles' affiliates, called the Atlantic League "equivalent to Triple-A hitting and fielding, Double-A pitching." Independent-league players are commonly signed by affiliated teams. Since the Atlantic League launched in 1998, more than 600 players with major-league experience have joined its teams, according to the league. This season, Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, Jay Gibbons, Esteban Yan and Preston Wilson are among the ex-big-leaguers.
Atlantic League franchises are in Bridgeport, Conn., Camden, N.J., Lancaster, Pa., Long Island, N.Y., Newark, N.J., Somerset, N.J., Southern Maryland (Waldorf) and York, Pa., and clubs usually have former big-leaguers as managers. This season, Gary Carter, Butch Hobson, Tim Raines, Sparky Lyle and Tommy John are managing.
Average Eastern League attendance this season is 4,146. Average Atlantic League attendance is 3,895. Kirk said locales involved with the Atlantic League find it features "great baseball, but also, quite frankly, the community gets a better financial deal with the Atlantic League."
If an ownership group pays $15 million for a franchise, for instance, in most cases that doesn't leave much for ownership to contribute to a new stadium, Kirk said. An Atlantic League expansion franchise would require approximately $7 million "to buy the franchise, set it up and do all of the things you have to do," Kirk said. "You have so much more [financial] room to work."
Minor League Baseball franchises are affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations. Independent leagues, such as the Atlantic League, are not.
Opening Day Partners, which this week released its proposal for a $28 million transformation of The Diamond, owns three of the eight Atlantic League franchises with local partners, and operates a fourth. "The Atlantic League would love to make a presentation and show Richmond how much we want to be there," said Peter Kirk, chairman of ODP. He added that the Atlantic League will make an expansion team available to Richmond for next season.
Kirk said Opening Day Partners also welcomes the opportunity to transform The Diamond for a Minor League Baseball franchise.
The Class AA Eastern League, part of Minor League Baseball, pledged to Richmond one of its 12 franchises for next season. Local investors failed in a bid to buy the Connecticut Defenders for $15.4 million. Minor League Baseball oversees a potential franchise sale and/or relocation it hopes to finalize by Aug. 1.
Eastern League President Joe McEacharn promised a "tightly managed process." Representatives of Ryan-Sanders, a well-regarded ownership group, late last month visited Richmond to investigate the situation. Reid Ryan, the firm's president, said this week "because of baseball rules, we are not allowed to comment on the market. Everything has to go through the Eastern League."
Asked for an update, McEacharn this week said "I really can't give any specifics other than to say we are continuing to explore a number of different options."
Kirk, a former owner of Baltimore Orioles' affiliates, called the Atlantic League "equivalent to Triple-A hitting and fielding, Double-A pitching." Independent-league players are commonly signed by affiliated teams. Since the Atlantic League launched in 1998, more than 600 players with major-league experience have joined its teams, according to the league. This season, Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, Jay Gibbons, Esteban Yan and Preston Wilson are among the ex-big-leaguers.
Atlantic League franchises are in Bridgeport, Conn., Camden, N.J., Lancaster, Pa., Long Island, N.Y., Newark, N.J., Somerset, N.J., Southern Maryland (Waldorf) and York, Pa., and clubs usually have former big-leaguers as managers. This season, Gary Carter, Butch Hobson, Tim Raines, Sparky Lyle and Tommy John are managing.
Average Eastern League attendance this season is 4,146. Average Atlantic League attendance is 3,895. Kirk said locales involved with the Atlantic League find it features "great baseball, but also, quite frankly, the community gets a better financial deal with the Atlantic League."
If an ownership group pays $15 million for a franchise, for instance, in most cases that doesn't leave much for ownership to contribute to a new stadium, Kirk said. An Atlantic League expansion franchise would require approximately $7 million "to buy the franchise, set it up and do all of the things you have to do," Kirk said. "You have so much more [financial] room to work."
Sunday, May 31, 2009
It’s clear where blame belongs in Defenders debacle
In the old world, and even still today in some cultures, prearranged marriages are the norm.
Any number of parties could put the bride and groom together, cutting out the courtship all together. Often times, these unions are driven by economic forces. It usually involves a rise to power and/or the bride bringing a substantial fortune to the groom’s family.
As we’ve learned, the pre-arranged marriage between the Connecticut Defenders and Richmond Baseball LC was a joke, one that’s done damage to many layers of a community.
For months, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn said securing the financial means to purchase and run the team was necessary — except that his handpicked bride didn’t include a dowry.
That’s why this “imminent” sale, as he’s called it, went on for months and months. Because he was so desperate to get his way by any means necessary, he’d trample everyone under foot, all while taking significant risk for vouching for an ownership group that has as much business buying a team as a panhandler.
After months of strong-arming Defenders owner Lou DiBella and his partners, the city and every single one of us who call Eastern Connecticut home, the poor power play by McEacharn — and ostensibly, Minor League Baseball (unless we are to believe McEacharn acted alone) — has done irreparable harm to the community.
And for what, a bonus?
This is no longer a pro- or anti-baseball issue. This is an issue of respect and decency.
It’s been a clever rouse, but because McEacharn failed to cover his bases, it is one that he can’t hide from.
He told Norwich Mayor Ben Lathrop that he was taking the team to Richmond. Never mind that it was McEacharn saying this, not the team’s ownership group. The cat got out of the bag and advertisers pulled support of the team, fans determined it’s not worth it to get behind the team, and full- and part-time staff at Dodd wonder where they are going to work next.
Maybe McEacharn didn’t see the trickle-down effect, but it’s time he stands judgment for his reckless abuse of power and trivialization of a community.
At a time when the economy is struggling, he took steps to undermine people with no sense of consequence. People like those Defenders employees who waited for any sort of official word of a sale and were left hanging like a curve ball; like the youth groups who come out in droves on Thursday mornings to hear a message of living drug-free lives; like the 70-year-old season-ticket holder who travels an hour to every game; or the usher who uses his pay to fill the gaps of Social Security; or the family of four who can’t wait for the Friday night fireworks. To us, they are our neighbors. To McEacharn, they were collateral damage.
Everyone thought this was DiBella’s idea — just as McEacharn wanted — figuring the owner was painted into a corner. God forbid this plot crumbled, DiBella would have to sell since he’d be the villain.
Lathrop called McEacharn the “facilitator.” McEacharn can no longer deny this sale doesn’t have his hands all over it.
He can’t.
Until after it was announced Thursday that the original deal was dead, DiBella hadn’t spoken with the bride-to-be in weeks, maybe months. And he hasn’t been allowed to look into moving the team. Why is that?
McEacharn is clearly an interested party, and it would behoove DiBella, his partners and the city of Norwich to challenge baseball’s anti-trust exemption. This is a clear case of collusion among McEacharn, Richmond Baseball — which knew it didn’t have the money — and Minor League Baseball.
This seems about the right time for an apology.
Or at the very least some clear answers. That would be the right thing.
But McEacharn isn’t likely to do the right thing. He hasn’t done it in months, so there’s no reason to anticipate a change now.
He promised support to bring a short-season Single-A team here for next year as a trade-off, but why should anyone believe him? McEacharn already proved a below-average student at doing his homework. Imagine what he might do on an exam.
Sure, a move to Richmond is ultimately about money. No one can fault that reasoning. But while other Eastern League team owners would benefit from increased revenues in Richmond, they should also be thinking, “What if that were me?” Take our word for it: He’ll take advantage of you, too, if given the chance.
He’s already begun that process in Richmond, and it doesn’t even have a team yet. McEacharn endorsed a new stadium plan that essentially required the city and its taxpayers to pay the bill while ownership had minimal risk if the venture failed. The good people of Virginia’s capital are already on to his shtick.
This was McEacharn’s deal from the start, which I’m sure began long before anyone had any business discussing a sale of the team because of tampering concerns. He handpicked the buyer, failed to do his due diligence and, as a result, has two months to come up with a plan to save face — and possibly his job.
These checks he keeps writing will continue to bounce. Sooner or later, they’ll end up at the door of Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Connor, who will want to wash his hands of McEacharn and his mess.
Being able to do the same will be the one positive if the Defenders do leave town
Any number of parties could put the bride and groom together, cutting out the courtship all together. Often times, these unions are driven by economic forces. It usually involves a rise to power and/or the bride bringing a substantial fortune to the groom’s family.
As we’ve learned, the pre-arranged marriage between the Connecticut Defenders and Richmond Baseball LC was a joke, one that’s done damage to many layers of a community.
For months, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn said securing the financial means to purchase and run the team was necessary — except that his handpicked bride didn’t include a dowry.
That’s why this “imminent” sale, as he’s called it, went on for months and months. Because he was so desperate to get his way by any means necessary, he’d trample everyone under foot, all while taking significant risk for vouching for an ownership group that has as much business buying a team as a panhandler.
After months of strong-arming Defenders owner Lou DiBella and his partners, the city and every single one of us who call Eastern Connecticut home, the poor power play by McEacharn — and ostensibly, Minor League Baseball (unless we are to believe McEacharn acted alone) — has done irreparable harm to the community.
And for what, a bonus?
This is no longer a pro- or anti-baseball issue. This is an issue of respect and decency.
It’s been a clever rouse, but because McEacharn failed to cover his bases, it is one that he can’t hide from.
He told Norwich Mayor Ben Lathrop that he was taking the team to Richmond. Never mind that it was McEacharn saying this, not the team’s ownership group. The cat got out of the bag and advertisers pulled support of the team, fans determined it’s not worth it to get behind the team, and full- and part-time staff at Dodd wonder where they are going to work next.
Maybe McEacharn didn’t see the trickle-down effect, but it’s time he stands judgment for his reckless abuse of power and trivialization of a community.
At a time when the economy is struggling, he took steps to undermine people with no sense of consequence. People like those Defenders employees who waited for any sort of official word of a sale and were left hanging like a curve ball; like the youth groups who come out in droves on Thursday mornings to hear a message of living drug-free lives; like the 70-year-old season-ticket holder who travels an hour to every game; or the usher who uses his pay to fill the gaps of Social Security; or the family of four who can’t wait for the Friday night fireworks. To us, they are our neighbors. To McEacharn, they were collateral damage.
Everyone thought this was DiBella’s idea — just as McEacharn wanted — figuring the owner was painted into a corner. God forbid this plot crumbled, DiBella would have to sell since he’d be the villain.
Lathrop called McEacharn the “facilitator.” McEacharn can no longer deny this sale doesn’t have his hands all over it.
He can’t.
Until after it was announced Thursday that the original deal was dead, DiBella hadn’t spoken with the bride-to-be in weeks, maybe months. And he hasn’t been allowed to look into moving the team. Why is that?
McEacharn is clearly an interested party, and it would behoove DiBella, his partners and the city of Norwich to challenge baseball’s anti-trust exemption. This is a clear case of collusion among McEacharn, Richmond Baseball — which knew it didn’t have the money — and Minor League Baseball.
This seems about the right time for an apology.
Or at the very least some clear answers. That would be the right thing.
But McEacharn isn’t likely to do the right thing. He hasn’t done it in months, so there’s no reason to anticipate a change now.
He promised support to bring a short-season Single-A team here for next year as a trade-off, but why should anyone believe him? McEacharn already proved a below-average student at doing his homework. Imagine what he might do on an exam.
Sure, a move to Richmond is ultimately about money. No one can fault that reasoning. But while other Eastern League team owners would benefit from increased revenues in Richmond, they should also be thinking, “What if that were me?” Take our word for it: He’ll take advantage of you, too, if given the chance.
He’s already begun that process in Richmond, and it doesn’t even have a team yet. McEacharn endorsed a new stadium plan that essentially required the city and its taxpayers to pay the bill while ownership had minimal risk if the venture failed. The good people of Virginia’s capital are already on to his shtick.
This was McEacharn’s deal from the start, which I’m sure began long before anyone had any business discussing a sale of the team because of tampering concerns. He handpicked the buyer, failed to do his due diligence and, as a result, has two months to come up with a plan to save face — and possibly his job.
These checks he keeps writing will continue to bounce. Sooner or later, they’ll end up at the door of Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Connor, who will want to wash his hands of McEacharn and his mess.
Being able to do the same will be the one positive if the Defenders do leave town
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Businessman is passionate advocate for baseball in Richmond
Critically evaluate Bryan Bostic's belief that minor-league baseball can greatly enhance a community's quality of life. Challenge his contention that Shockoe Bottom is the ideal location for a new ballpark.
Questioning his commitment to those positions is a tougher task.
Dating back to his involvement with the Richmond Ballpark Initiative, the local businessman has spent the past seven years advocating an upgraded baseball experience in a modern facility. Since the Atlanta Braves announced in January 2008 that they were moving their Class AAA franchise to Gwinnett County, Ga., Bostic says he has worked nearly every day toward his goal of returning baseball to Richmond.
Bostic, 47, acknowledged that the effort has included "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from his personal account. He has made more than 80 presentations to Richmond-area groups.
Why the investments in passion, time and resources?
"I was tired of going to all of these other cities and seeing how they had leveraged baseball as a catalyst for growth and revitalization, and how we weren't," said Bostic, a Richmond native who grew up in Newport News. "If we're going to spend money, let's spend it wisely. Let's create an economic-development opportunity."
Seven months ago, Bostic was among those who introduced the Shockoe Center proposal, a $318 million development with a $60 million ballpark. "We've done our homework," said Bostic, who strongly believes that the success of downtown ballparks in many other locales provides a blueprint for Richmond.
"Why should we be different? Just because baseball has been played on the Boulevard for 50 years?" Bostic said. "That doesn't mean it's right. It just means that's where it's been."
He is chairman of Richmond Baseball Club LC, which is in the process of purchasing a Class AA franchise -- the highest competitive level from which a franchise is available -- for the purpose of relocating it to Richmond and, in the short term, The Diamond.
Bostic, a former James Madison University tennis player, moved to Richmond in 1985 and launched 2b Technology. That became a global ticketing and reservation business for museums, zoos and other attractions. In 2000, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. acquired the company in a reported $23 million, all-stock deal.
Bostic may be genetically wired to ensure that Richmond has pro ball. During the mid-1950s, his grandfather, Ed Phillips, was instrumental in raising money to turn Parker Field, which had been used for football and horse racing, into a baseball facility for the Richmond Virginians, the New York Yankees' Class AAA team.
The city continues to study the Shockoe Center proposal. Bostic continues to pitch.
"This is a huge challenge, there's no doubt about it," he said. "But I believe this community has real opportunity in front of it. It just needs to open its eyes to what other communities have done and we haven't."
Questioning his commitment to those positions is a tougher task.
Dating back to his involvement with the Richmond Ballpark Initiative, the local businessman has spent the past seven years advocating an upgraded baseball experience in a modern facility. Since the Atlanta Braves announced in January 2008 that they were moving their Class AAA franchise to Gwinnett County, Ga., Bostic says he has worked nearly every day toward his goal of returning baseball to Richmond.
Bostic, 47, acknowledged that the effort has included "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from his personal account. He has made more than 80 presentations to Richmond-area groups.
Why the investments in passion, time and resources?
"I was tired of going to all of these other cities and seeing how they had leveraged baseball as a catalyst for growth and revitalization, and how we weren't," said Bostic, a Richmond native who grew up in Newport News. "If we're going to spend money, let's spend it wisely. Let's create an economic-development opportunity."
Seven months ago, Bostic was among those who introduced the Shockoe Center proposal, a $318 million development with a $60 million ballpark. "We've done our homework," said Bostic, who strongly believes that the success of downtown ballparks in many other locales provides a blueprint for Richmond.
"Why should we be different? Just because baseball has been played on the Boulevard for 50 years?" Bostic said. "That doesn't mean it's right. It just means that's where it's been."
He is chairman of Richmond Baseball Club LC, which is in the process of purchasing a Class AA franchise -- the highest competitive level from which a franchise is available -- for the purpose of relocating it to Richmond and, in the short term, The Diamond.
Bostic, a former James Madison University tennis player, moved to Richmond in 1985 and launched 2b Technology. That became a global ticketing and reservation business for museums, zoos and other attractions. In 2000, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. acquired the company in a reported $23 million, all-stock deal.
Bostic may be genetically wired to ensure that Richmond has pro ball. During the mid-1950s, his grandfather, Ed Phillips, was instrumental in raising money to turn Parker Field, which had been used for football and horse racing, into a baseball facility for the Richmond Virginians, the New York Yankees' Class AAA team.
The city continues to study the Shockoe Center proposal. Bostic continues to pitch.
"This is a huge challenge, there's no doubt about it," he said. "But I believe this community has real opportunity in front of it. It just needs to open its eyes to what other communities have done and we haven't."
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Unanswered Questions about Baseball
Pitchmen Paul Kreckman and Bryan Bostic said they would answer all questions. Then they didn’t do it.
The men who would build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom made a presentation in Albert Hill Middle School’s auditorium on Apr. 22. The early-evening meeting was advertised as open to the public. Maybe 70 or 75 people showed up to listen to Kreckman, of Highwoods Properties, and Bostic, of Richmond Baseball Club.
The crowd was told to hold questions until the presentation was done. The audience complied and sat politely through the structured part of the night.
Kreckman spoke mostly about money aspects of the developments his outfit has designed for the Boulevard and Shockoe Bottom.
Bostic spoke mostly about the baseball stadium he wants to see built, to be the home field for a minor league franchise his group is in the process of buying. With his intensity ratcheted up, Bostic said, “There’s a game out there ... it’s called baseball.”
Kreckman was folksy and well-modulated. But his take-it-or-leave-it threat was clear -- if the stadium component of the plans doesn’t fall into place, Highwoods will walk away from the whole shebang.
Later Bostic said, “It’s not about wins and losses, it’s about the experience.”
By that Bostic was talking about how the fans coming to see his team play will be more interested in the stadium’s festive atmosphere -- the view of the skyline, the bells and whistles, which will appeal to folks who don’t care about actually watching baseball.
Kreckman said, “I’m not a baseball fan.”
Bostic said, “It’s not about the game ... it’s about sunsets.”
Of course, they both said a lot of other things, too. Neither man was particularly convincing. What happened during the Q&A session was more telling than the spinning numbers and blue sky projections had been.
Among the initial half-dozen questions, some were challenging. Obviously, there were some citizens in the room with a bone to pick. So, a new rule was laid down -- only one question per citizen.
Tougher questions were asked. A man brought up Bostic’s history with Richmond Baseball Initiative, the group that effectively put the kibosh on the plan to renovate The Diamond, with its push for a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom five years ago.
Bostic bristled. He labeled the question, “unfair!” Then he blustered about The Diamond’s $18.5 million renovation plan. He cracked that the figure would have turned out to be “$30 million.”
In other words, we should not have bought what the Richmond Metropolitan Authority said, but Highwoods’ estimates are as good as gold. Bostic mocked the RMA, while he wants to create a new “authority” like it to own the new stadium and issue the bonds.
Shortly afterward, with hands aplenty raised to ask questions, the meeting was declared over. It was frustrating to leave the room with a head full of questions. Questions like:
The Diamond is almost 24 years old. Is it common to issue 30-year bonds on a building that has a 20-to-25-year life?
For the first two years, Bostic’s new team will apparently play at The Diamond. If the deal for Shockoe Bottom doesn’t happen, how willing is Bostic to talk about staying at The Diamond?
Minor league baseball is no sure thing. Say Bostic has to sell the team in five years, what would happen if the new owner wants to move it to another city?
If the revenue from the taxes earmarked to service the bonds isn’t there, the bondholders can then seize the stadium, according to Highwoods. So, what would that do to Richmond’s credit rating? And, who would buy such a facility?
What will leaving the two surrounding counties out of the new stadium deal do for the spirit of regional cooperation?
In 2005 City Council agreed to hold a referendum, to ask the voters where they wanted professional baseball to be played. Then the worthy idea was cast aside. Why?
Isn’t such a hot potato referendum, something that would get the politicians off the hook -- Boulevard or Shockoe Bottom? -- the best way to judge the righteousness of the Highwoods vision for Richmond?
The men who would build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom made a presentation in Albert Hill Middle School’s auditorium on Apr. 22. The early-evening meeting was advertised as open to the public. Maybe 70 or 75 people showed up to listen to Kreckman, of Highwoods Properties, and Bostic, of Richmond Baseball Club.
The crowd was told to hold questions until the presentation was done. The audience complied and sat politely through the structured part of the night.
Kreckman spoke mostly about money aspects of the developments his outfit has designed for the Boulevard and Shockoe Bottom.
Bostic spoke mostly about the baseball stadium he wants to see built, to be the home field for a minor league franchise his group is in the process of buying. With his intensity ratcheted up, Bostic said, “There’s a game out there ... it’s called baseball.”
Kreckman was folksy and well-modulated. But his take-it-or-leave-it threat was clear -- if the stadium component of the plans doesn’t fall into place, Highwoods will walk away from the whole shebang.
Later Bostic said, “It’s not about wins and losses, it’s about the experience.”
By that Bostic was talking about how the fans coming to see his team play will be more interested in the stadium’s festive atmosphere -- the view of the skyline, the bells and whistles, which will appeal to folks who don’t care about actually watching baseball.
Kreckman said, “I’m not a baseball fan.”
Bostic said, “It’s not about the game ... it’s about sunsets.”
Of course, they both said a lot of other things, too. Neither man was particularly convincing. What happened during the Q&A session was more telling than the spinning numbers and blue sky projections had been.
Among the initial half-dozen questions, some were challenging. Obviously, there were some citizens in the room with a bone to pick. So, a new rule was laid down -- only one question per citizen.
Tougher questions were asked. A man brought up Bostic’s history with Richmond Baseball Initiative, the group that effectively put the kibosh on the plan to renovate The Diamond, with its push for a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom five years ago.
Bostic bristled. He labeled the question, “unfair!” Then he blustered about The Diamond’s $18.5 million renovation plan. He cracked that the figure would have turned out to be “$30 million.”
In other words, we should not have bought what the Richmond Metropolitan Authority said, but Highwoods’ estimates are as good as gold. Bostic mocked the RMA, while he wants to create a new “authority” like it to own the new stadium and issue the bonds.
Shortly afterward, with hands aplenty raised to ask questions, the meeting was declared over. It was frustrating to leave the room with a head full of questions. Questions like:
The Diamond is almost 24 years old. Is it common to issue 30-year bonds on a building that has a 20-to-25-year life?
For the first two years, Bostic’s new team will apparently play at The Diamond. If the deal for Shockoe Bottom doesn’t happen, how willing is Bostic to talk about staying at The Diamond?
Minor league baseball is no sure thing. Say Bostic has to sell the team in five years, what would happen if the new owner wants to move it to another city?
If the revenue from the taxes earmarked to service the bonds isn’t there, the bondholders can then seize the stadium, according to Highwoods. So, what would that do to Richmond’s credit rating? And, who would buy such a facility?
What will leaving the two surrounding counties out of the new stadium deal do for the spirit of regional cooperation?
In 2005 City Council agreed to hold a referendum, to ask the voters where they wanted professional baseball to be played. Then the worthy idea was cast aside. Why?
Isn’t such a hot potato referendum, something that would get the politicians off the hook -- Boulevard or Shockoe Bottom? -- the best way to judge the righteousness of the Highwoods vision for Richmond?
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