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Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
They have an AA, AA3, or AA- credit rating depending on which outfit is rating them. A "stable" rating. They have no problem borrowing $100 million worth of muni bonds to fund a ballpark. $30 million of it is paid for in rent. Parking fees and property taxes from a district improvement financial district should make a big dent in covering the rest. My podunk town's new police station cost $14 million. The podunk town next to me just borrowed $38 million to build a new high school. Worcester has a $630 million annual budget.
Providence could have done the same thing but their credit rating is lower so it would have cost more to borrow the money.
My question wasn't the credit worthiness of Worcester. My question was, how does Worcester afford it? The property taxes from properties within the newly created special tax district were already in the revenue stream, so it's not as if it is all new revenue. Increased property values as a result of the new development will create new revenue but takes a little time to come online. Parking fees may be new revenue. Otherwise, it seems the Worcester taxpayers have to be the source of the new revenue stream.
This year’s state budget includes $300,000 for repairs at 76-year-old McCoy, including fixing leaky expansion joints.
Given McCoy’s condition, Rhode Island’s economic focus for Pawtucket could be away from baseball.
What about McCoy's condition? Reading the team's own feasibility study, the only major structural issue with McCoy was the expansion joints (from the 1999 renovation), which are apparently being repaired.
Quote:
As far as specifics, McKee said one hope for the Apex site would be a corporate build like the new Citizen’s Bank Complex in Johnston that will employ 3,000 people.
I certainly hope not. The Citizens complex is designed to allow people to drive in from the suburbs in the morning, park all day, and drive home at 5. Not exactly a "downtown" development.
But it would make sense for him to test the waters on a Stadium in either Boston or Providence (Pawtucket) now with the Worcester deal fresh. Here’s why:
1) Many in RI are a little peeved about the loss of the PawSox and Kraft may see that frustration as a chance for RI to be a little more open to negotiating a stadium deal than they were even a week ago.
2) The amount of public money/effort given to luring the PawSox is certainly incentive for Kraft to attempt to open up a bidding war - especially if he feels RI may be willing to go a little bit further to replace the franchise they lost. Gillette was privately funded, but I’m sure he will be amenable to public money if it’s on the table.
3) Efforts to find a spot for a stadium in Boston have been met with resistance over the years. If RI looks like it’s interested in pursuing the Revs, Boston (or Somerville, Medford, Everett, and other nearby communities) might be more open to working with Kraft as opposed to potentially losing the team to PVD/RI.
Just guesses, but Kraft is opportunistic for sure, and this definitely presents some opportunity to at least test the market a bit. Even if he actually did buy land on Boston, it’s easy to just use it for leverage and resell it if they end up elsewhere.
Your link requires login info, so I couldn't read it. But on the news tonight, it was mentioned that McCoy could become a safety complex for the local high school.
I also heard that the ballpark in Worcester will be called Polar Park.
Your link requires login info, so I couldn't read it. But on the news tonight, it was mentioned that McCoy could become a safety complex for the local high school.
Safety complex and or consolidated high school.
The city has two public high schools which are very aged and will need major updates or be replaced. Tolman High School was opened in 1926 and Shea High School was opened in 1938. The football field just outside the right side of McCoy is where Tolman plays so a school there makes sense. Given Pawtucket is almost entirely built out, there are not many large parcels of open space available. Residents have thought for a long time that the city will eventually merge the high schools back into one facility as it always was up until 1938. McCoy, after its playing days are over, has always been a logical choice for its location.
The Pawtucket Police Dept is also strapped for space and divided between two different structures nearly a mile part. The dept has wanted a new hq for a very long time.
The city has two public high schools which are very aged and will need major updates or be replaced. Tolman High School was opened in 1926 and Shea High School was opened in 1938. The football field just outside the right side of McCoy is where Tolman plays so a school there makes sense. Given Pawtucket is almost entirely built out, there are not many large parcels of open space available. Residents have thought for a long time that the city will eventually merge the high schools back into one facility as it always was up until 1938. McCoy, after its playing days are over, has always been a logical choice for its location.
The Pawtucket Police Dept is also strapped for space and divided between two different structures nearly a mile part. The dept has wanted a new hq for a very long time.
Thanks, I misheard what was said.
It would really be a shame if they knock down McCoy. Isn't there a lot of space where the horse track used to be?
It would really be a shame if they knock down McCoy. Isn't there a lot of space where the horse track used to be?
If the Pawsox were not moving to Worcester, they would have had a new home stadium at the mostly underutilized Apex site alongside Rte 95 in downtown Pawtucket. McCoy would therefore have likely been torn down regardless.
The former Narragansett Race Track (which straddled the line with E Providence) was developed almost 40 years ago. A small portion was developed for housing, the former main parking lot facing Rte 1A Newport Ave was converted into a retail plaza (currently slated to be rehabbed into a lifestyle center), and the track/infield/stables area was developed into an industrial park. Hasbro currently has a large office presence there that is one of their multi site HQ facilities.
If the Pawsox were not moving to Worcester, they would have had a new home stadium at the mostly underutilized Apex site alongside Rte 95 in downtown Pawtucket. McCoy would therefore have likely been torn down regardless.
Yeah, I guess I never thought about what would happen to McCoy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MMS02760
The former Narragansett Race Track (which straddled the line with E Providence) was developed almost 40 years ago. A small portion was developed for housing, the former main parking lot facing Rte 1A Newport Ave was converted into a retail plaza (currently slated to be rehabbed into a lifestyle center), and the track/infield/stables area was developed into an industrial park. Hasbro currently has a large office presence there that is one of their multi site HQ facilities.
I meant the Building 19 that has been empty for years. It was a huge flea market at one time.
But it would make sense for him to test the waters on a Stadium in either Boston or Providence (Pawtucket) now with the Worcester deal fresh. Here’s why:
1) Many in RI are a little peeved about the loss of the PawSox and Kraft may see that frustration as a chance for RI to be a little more open to negotiating a stadium deal than they were even a week ago.
2) The amount of public money/effort given to luring the PawSox is certainly incentive for Kraft to attempt to open up a bidding war - especially if he feels RI may be willing to go a little bit further to replace the franchise they lost. Gillette was privately funded, but I’m sure he will be amenable to public money if it’s on the table.
3) Efforts to find a spot for a stadium in Boston have been met with resistance over the years. If RI looks like it’s interested in pursuing the Revs, Boston (or Somerville, Medford, Everett, and other nearby communities) might be more open to working with Kraft as opposed to potentially losing the team to PVD/RI.
Just guesses, but Kraft is opportunistic for sure, and this definitely presents some opportunity to at least test the market a bit. Even if he actually did buy land on Boston, it’s easy to just use it for leverage and resell it if they end up elsewhere.
Kraft might feign interest in RI, but I don't think we would be any more than a bargaining chip. The Revs draw something like 20,000/game on average. What percent of those fans make the trek to Foxborough from Boston? From RI?
MLS wants single purpose stadiums and folks point to that as one reason why the Revs "need" a new home. This is in spite of the fact that the team with the second highest average attendance, Seattle, is in a shared facility. So a single purpose facility is a secondary consideration.
The primary reason for a new stadium is to relocate, to move out of the suburbs and into an urban core. My sense is that the New England Revolution/Kraft want to be in the heart of a large urban center because they are typically more cosmopolitan, which in the US means more inclined toward soccer fandom. Boston's collection of universities, which draw an international crowd that tends to stick around for the high paying jobs, dwarfs ours. Providence/Pawtucket is not a large urban center.
Soccer still has a long way to go to build an American fan base.
For the Revs to move to Providence rather than Boston, makes little sense at this time. I would say it makes far less sense than the PawSox moving to Worcester, which I still think is a decision based more on Lucchino's ego and free money from Worcester than business sense.
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