Uh-oh, it might finally happen: New Marlins Ballpark Deal Near?

Proposed Design of New Marlins Ballpark from a couple of years back: ORANGE BOWL would be torn down under new Ballpark plan which is being reviewd now

After 10 years worth of fighting thru the political red tape, the Florida Marlins finally might get their new 37,000 seat retractable roof ballpark (estimated cost: $525 million) which they say they need for MLB to survive in SoFla. The Miami-Dade County Commissioners is the last board that has to sign off on the ballpark agreement.

THE BOTTOME LINE: I think they finally pull the trigger on this deal, which means the dude who is fighting the Knights Ballpark deal in Uptown Charlotte will have to drop his silly lawsuit against the city & county . . . There will not be a CHARLOTTE MARLINS MLB in the future . . PERIOD !!!!!!!!!

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New details in Marlins stadium deal

Posted on Sun, Feb. 17, 2008

BY CHARLES RABIN
[email protected]

Miami-Dade County commissioners received the finalized version of a baseball stadium agreement for the Florida Marlins late Saturday night, leaving the team the closest it has been in its decade-long search for funding -- and the county on the hook for $98 million more than previously reported.

The 94-page document, which was sent to commissioners by courier, still calls for tourist tax dollars to fund the majority of the $525 million plan that would place a ballpark at the site of what is now Little Havana's Orange Bowl.

But it increases the county's share to $347 million. The city of Miami, on the other hand, is now only required to pony up $23 million -- $10 million of which would go toward the demolition of the Orange Bowl.

The Marlins' share would come to $155 million, with the team required to pay $120 million upfront and the remainder in yearly rent payments of $2.3 million. Miami, though, is also required to spend $94 million on a 6,000-car parking garage.

So while the county and city contributions have changed -- one rising, one falling -- the net public contribution remains the same.

According to the document constructed by County Manager George Burgess, the team was allowed to lower its out-of-pocket contribution by agreeing to annual payments of $750,000 toward capital improvements -- one of the major sticking points during the two-month negotiations.

Another sticking point: the Marlins' wish to have the county pay for office space in the downtown Miami area, wasn't completely ironed out. The contract simply says the county will help identify space.

When complete, the natural-grass ballpark would have 37,000 seats, 3,000 club seats, 60 suites and a retractable roof to shield players and fans from South Florida's summer thunderstorms.

The team also would agree to not relocate for 35 years, the length of the agreement. The county would own the stadium, and the Marlins would be responsible for construction cost overruns.

The plan calls for a limited construction window, with groundbreaking expected in November, and the stadium complete in time for the Marlins to take the field Opening Day in April 2011. The Marlins lease at H. Wayne Huizenga-owned Dolphin Stadium runs out at the end of the 2010 season. '

With the deal finally complete after two-months of intense negotiations, all that remains for the Marlins to finally begin building the stadium team owners have fought for more than a decade is a vote by city of Miami and county commissioners.

Both commissions have scheduled meetings Thursday to discuss and possibly vote on the financial package.

The ballclub has also agreed to change its name to the Miami Marlins.

As of late Saturday, Miami commissioners had not yet received the document.

''I was told they won't be able to deliver it [the stadium financing contract] today, but to be set for a briefing tomorrow [Sunday], or Monday,'' said Miami Commissioner Tomás Regalado.

 

I think it's gonna happen. The Marlins desperately need a BASEBALL stadium. They have moved the U out of the Orange Bowl, in preperation for tearing it down and building the new Marlins stadium. I'm not a Marlins fan, but I'm glad to see baseball getting a second chance in Miami.

 

Baseball has had a million chances in Miami. They'd be fools to spend all this money when that area clearly doesn't want a team. Still, at least they won't put it to a public vote and then ignore the results.

 

Las Vegas!!!!




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Marlins in Vegas ? ? ? Oh, that's right tons of them are seen in Lake Mead during the summer !!!!!!!

 

All they need is a stadium that holds 2-10 thousand. Anyhting above that is just empty seats even if the team wins the WS. Miami is dead as a baseball town.. move the Marlins..

 

It was thought that Miami would be a good baseball town because of the huge Latin population. The Latins don't go the games in numbers, but they do hang out a lot on streets on the way to the ballpark.

 

I thought the reason for that was the Marlins played out at Joe Robbie Stadium, which is on the fringe of town, right vs. being smack dab in the middle of Downtown Miami (or easy access to the METRORAIL line).

I know that the biggest drawback to building a ballpark at the old Orange Bowl site is that there is no parking in the area (I guess parking decks will have to be built) and the nearest METRORAIL Station is 1 mile away (?). I guess they will be running lots of shuttle buses to the park and/or folks will be walking in the hotass SoFla Summer sun to get to the ballpark. Woooo, is that going to be brutal!!!!!!

 

Yeah, Marlins are finally getting a new ballpark**!!!!!

**Assuming several important details get worked out within the next 30 days, like who has fire/police responsibility for the ballpark (i.e. Ummmmmm, isn't the stadium in Miami proper? Then why not the City of Miami, duh )##

##City of Miami/Dade County merged several years ago, creating a City-County Govt.


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Miami officials OK Marlins' new stadium, but some issues still unresolved

Associated Press


MIAMI -- The Florida Marlins finally have an agreement for the baseball-only ballpark they have coveted for nearly a decade.

Still, their long fight for a new home is far from over.

After lengthy and often-contentious debate, Miami-Dade County commissioners -- some doing so grudgingly -- voted 9-3 Thursday night to approve a basic plan for a $515 million, retractable-roof stadium that would open in time for the 2011 season.

City commissioners approved the Baseball Stadium Agreement by a 4-1 vote several hours earlier.

The 37,000-seat facility would be at the site of the Orange Bowl, which is to be demolished in the coming months, and this is the closest the Marlins have been to fulfilling their stadium quest.

But several issues, including the particularly thorny matter of deciding if city or county police and fire departments will be patrolling the new facility, remain unresolved. An agreement on the police-fire staffing front must be struck within 30 days, or the plan -- and maybe the Marlins franchise -- would likely be doomed.

"This has to be resolved within 30 days ... so therefore, the inability to resolve this political issue kills baseball in South Florida," Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy said. "That's the consequence."

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, though, sounded certain that all further roadblocks can be cleared.

"This is a binding agreement," Diaz said. "This is it. We have a deal. There will be baseball in Miami."

There's several other issues, most notably a legal challenge filed by South Florida car dealer Norman Braman, who is trying to derail the plan and sent attorneys to Thursday's hearings urging commissioners to put the matter before voters.

Still, Thursday's passage was a significant step forward for the two-time World Series champions.

"There's a lot of work to do," Miami-Dade county manager George Burgess said.

The county would pay $347 million in stadium construction costs, mostly from tourism taxes. The Marlins would pay $155 million, some through a $2.3 million annual rent bill, plus agree to buy 5,750 parking spots from the city for 35 seasons -- essentially paying off the garage-building cost.

All stadium revenues would go to the Marlins, who claim they lose millions annually, and the team would be renamed the Miami Marlins before the facility -- which includes the roof the team insisted upon, since threat of rain is a summertime constant in South Florida -- opens its gates.

It has been an epic process, filled with team-mandated deadlines that weren't met, five failed bids to obtain state funding for previous plans -- some were budgeted as low as $325 million -- and talks of moving the Marlins elsewhere, including Las Vegas and San Antonio.

One state lawmaker once likened talks with the Marlins as negotiating with "terrorists," a statement that was quickly recanted.

But even after Thursday's developments, a resolution has never been closer.

The perceived rush to a vote -- commissioners have had the complicated 94-page agreement document for less than a week -- did not appease many opponents of the stadium plan, who urged officials to let residents decide the issue.

"Sometimes you have to trust the administration," Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said as he urged county commissioners to approve the plan, and while the debate crept toward a sixth hour.

Others, including two attorneys representing Braman, questioned if some of the county's planned contribution represents a misuse of funds that were earmarked to remove blight around the county.

"Before you spend public money ... allow the people who put you in those chairs to vote on it," said attorney Harley Tropin.

Since the team's inaugural season in 1993, it has played at Dolphin Stadium, which is owned by Marlins founding owner H. Wayne Huizenga. The team's lease there expires after the 2010 season.

But the Marlins' current lease doesn't allow them to get much revenue out of that facility, so the team has purged higher-salary players in recent years. The Marlins haven't made the playoffs since winning the 2003 World Series, and have had baseball's lowest average attendance in each of the past two seasons.

"It's been quite a road to this day," Marlins president David Samson said.