Hardball Capital using Fort Wayne to lure another sucker…
Posted by AWB in City & County GovernmentHardball Capital owns a southern minor league team named the Savannah Sand Gnats.
Under consideration in Savannah is whether a brand spanking new arena would become a new home for the Savannah Sand Gnats. If it flies, it will require a public-private partnership amounting to tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Sound familiar? Wait for the end.
On Aug. 13, the Sand Gnats’ parent company, Hardball Capital, paid to fly Acting City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney, Alderwoman Mary Ellen Sprague and more than a dozen area business leaders to Fort Wayne, Ind., to tour Parkview Field, the year-old arena built for the minor-league TinCaps, which Hardball also owns.
A second trip is planned in September for another Savannah group, which would include other city officials.
“Our thought was that it probably made sense to let the folks in Savannah see what we’ve done in Fort Wayne,” said Jason Freier, co-owner of the Sand Gnats. “The venue is not just for baseball. We’ve done more than 250 events, including concerts, six weddings and business and community functions. It’s not what you’d think of as a baseball stadium.”
Funny, there was no mention of the big-ass gaping hole in left field. It gets better.
Even with renovations, Grayson Stadium, the Sand Gnats’ current home, has its limitations, Freier said. The city, which owns the stadium, has put $5 million worth of improvements into the ballpark through the same 2006 sales-tax fund.
Still, Freier said, “We need to look at how much we continue to spend on an aging venue.”
And then there’s the question of the Savannah River Landing property.
It was supposed to launch a high-end retail, hotel and condominium complex that would generate more than $57.5 million in tax dollars. With development in limbo, tax dollars aren’t coming in as expected, and the city, meanwhile, is obligated to pay back $20 million in bonds to finance infrastructure improvements. This year, the debt obligation is $546,450. But by 2012, the cost will hover at more than $1.3 million until 2032.
In addition to boosting average game attendance, Fort Wayne’s new stadium helped launch surrounding development, including a new hotel scheduled to open Sept. 1 and a residential/retail component, Freier said.
Pardon the &^%$, what the hell did he say?
I have some snake oil for sale if you believe this crap.
Freier is apparently adept at lying through his nose.
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Tags: Hardball Capital, Jason Freier, Tin Caps
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I think we're all waiting for the Ice Rink facility on the north end of Northrop to start rolling in the "100's of millions of dollars" that Mayor Henry proclaimed the project would bring in. Anybody working on that Hotel next to it? Maybe the F.W. Police Department could move in there.
As we found out, it would do no good to contact anyone in Savannah's government or resident taxpayers – And Hardball Capital will lie to get what it wants – as Freier has done in Fort Wayne. Have you noticed that no local media has covered this visitation from Savannah? Makes you wonder why!
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You are mistaken. The ice rink complex was not taxpayer financed and neither is the motel.
I would guess that the city did not promote the visit from Savannah. Just a guess. I would also guess that because the papers are so understaffed that they don't have the people to lurk anymore. As for Charly Butcher and the 24-hour newsroom at WOWO, give me a break. They seldom show up anywhere.
Secondly, the quote may have been misstated. I have gotten more than a few wrong. There may have been a qualifier in there suggesting that the condo/retail was still in the works. We all know, however, that Hardball is trying to scale back to a much smaller building. Promisekeepers. I will endeavor to find out who the city council members were with whom the Savannah folk met. AWB, himself, may also ferret this one out. I will guess Tim Pape was one, perhaps Il Maestro Tomaso Didier was another.
Now, I love the ballpark, and I love its location, but the deal was bad from the beginning and John Shoaff is merely trying to rebalance it. As it stands almost every bit of profit goes to Atlanta and we foot the maintenance bills. Hardball gets the gate, the advertising and the concessions. We were to get the property taxes from the condo/retail building. SO, I suggest a fifty-fifty split on everything going forward until the condo building is up and operating.
Mr. Freier is quoted as saying the ballpark "launched" the condo/retail building. So, far that ship has not made it out of dock and, let us hope, the seafaring analogy does not continue to emulate the Vasa.
The Savannah article stated: "The Savannah group toured the facility and met with members of Fort Wayne's City Council. Hubbard, for one, came away "very, very impressed" and intrigued by the stadium idea."
Well, I can certainly state they didn't meet with me.
Its a great business model.Get the taxpayers to foot the bill and pocket the profits.Working here why not try it there.
I didn't think you would be involved, Mitch, but had to ask. I would guess Mr. Pape was invited, I would also guess that Mr. Shoaff was not.
Ahem… Mitch. You wrote on your blog this morning:
"As it is, no Fort Wayne media outlet has reported on the visit of the Savannah folks"
?
I was working a fund raiser for a day care on concession stand 1 that night.
We were told we had to do everything by the book, and then some more, because the "owners" were there.
Unfortunately I never got to meet anyone.
On another note, I am going to venture that the mayor was not there either, as he and his wife usually buy the soft serve ice cream from that concession stand when they are at the games.
AWB – your point is well-taken. What I was trying to emphasize was that this was not publicized when it happened; there were no photo opps for the television shooters, for example.
I should have made the distinction given the discussions we have had over the MSM acting as though weblogs did not exist.
What size cones do the mayor and first lady usually get?
Thanks Mitch.
The practice of allowing an entity with business before the City of Savannah to pay travel expenses for public officials is not a good one.
Mitch is right. It creates politicians who are, to a degree, beholden to the business leader. One would hate to ask too critical a question for fear of missing the flight home.
Savannah Sand Gnats? I think the people of Savannah have already been had. Can't wait for a new barrage of propaganda. Next thing they'll tell the rubes from Savannah is that the development is successful that GM decided to build a truck plant here. Wow.
John Bloom – If you had seen the article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 3, 2006 by Byyan Long where the purchase of the Fort Wayne Wizards by Chris Schoen (president of Barry Real Estate Co.s) with Jason Freier and 10 other investors was announced contained the following statement:
"minor league gross margins are in the 60% to 70% range – much of the operating costs of a team are subsidized by Major League Baseball-they pay all players salaries, benefits, per diem when traveling and all of the equipment costs. And the biggest cost – the ballpark – is often held by city or county governmernts and leased by the team."
Hardball Capital did one better to really shove it to Fort Wayne – they talked the city administration of Graham Richards and our Common Council into hiring Hardball to run the stadium and receive 98% of the profits from it's baseball business! And the measly 2% is going into a stadium maintenance fund – with properety taxes paying ALL the costs to build and finance the stadium!
Pathetic for the taxpayers.More pathetic that Henry's administration is not holding Hardball's feet to the fire and enforce the contract.Makes me think that someone is stuffing Henry's pockets with campaign dollars that has a interest.
What we have found out so far is that very few of city council members participated in the stealth visit; so far only Tim Pape has stated he participated. Five others have said they were not there, one commented in frustration: "why am I always the last to find out?"
We also have been told the mayor's sharp new PR guy, a savvy politician and an effective spokesman for the city, was not informed of the visit until after the fact. That is just hard to figure out, given the recent credibility push by the city on the Harrison: Greg Leatherman has been on two radio programs explaining away the problems and the Journal-Gazette wrote their expected apologetic editorial which went out of its way to blame Mr. Shoaff for calling for answers. That kind of PR push would have greatly benefited from showcasing the visit of the high-level delegation from Savannah. Either somebody dropped the ball or Hardball didn't want Savannah to learn the details of their sweetheart deal in Fort Wayne. Perhaps there is a different reason, but no one so far has offered it. John Kalb hit it on the head. Time for either Hardball to chip in what they offered, or to renegotiate the deal.
The Journal this morning has a guest editorial from Chris Guerin, a member of the Redevelopment Commission who signed off on the Harrison. It is worth a read. It does become a bit personal at times, but that is to be expected. Chris attacks John Shoaff as being vengeful. Chris should know that Tom Smith, Mitch Harper and, increasingly, Tom Didier have strong doubts about the arrangement with Hardball. http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100831/ED…
Yea ,John should drink the kool aid!
What Chris says is all good and well but still doesn't address the issue of fact. Hardball Capital had a contract that they agreed to and now don't have to be subjected to, all the while the Taxpayers and guests of the Stadium are footing the bills.
Let's see. This is also the Chris Guerin who is head of Redevelopment Commission and works for Sweetwater Sound. The same Redevelopment Commission that gave away taxpayer paid for land on heavily traveled West Jefferson Boulevard to the owner of Sweetwater Sound for a used Jaguar dealership.
Guerin really sticks up for the taxpayers of Fort Wayne. Yessiree.
I found Mr. Guerin's Op-Ed insulting. The $5,000 per diem was contractual. He calls it a penalty. Most see it for what it is – forced accountabililty to recoup lost tax revenue. Why bother to include the provision if it will never be inforced?
Such special treatment infuriates the little guy. No exceptions are made for us. We're not even asking for a break – just equal treatment under the law.
Mr. Guerin asks, "What will all of our other partners, potential and actual, in the business community think if we appear to be punishing a partner in tough times?" Answer: We're holding them accountable to the terms of their contract. He should be equally concerned with the taxpaying community whose interests aren't being protected.
Don't expect taxpayers to forget when your next SURE THING project comes along and you need OUR help.
Equally infuriating is the real message Mr. Guerin is sending to potential partners in the business community: "Pay no attention to the terms of our agreement – we won't enforce them anyway."
Dave, John Shoaff also felt insulted and is writing his response. Chris took a personal shot at John to camouflage the lack of progress on the building. Chris was part of the negotiations and should know better. Your points are well taken.
My friends in the advertising and PR industry should note the quick, textbook like response to Mr. Shoaff's concerns. In just a matter of hours Hardball and their local affiliate, the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission had people on the radio and articles in the papers to not only knock down Mr. Shoaff's concerns, but to also insult and personalize the conflict. Saul Alinsky lives!
Alan, you forgot one, same owner who gave big campaign dollars to the Henry campaign.
Editor’s note: This is not Dan a.k.a. AWB
Higher Game Attendance Averages ? Oh would I love to see a year-by-year, comparison of game attendance figures for the Wizards Vs. TinCaps …. Wonder why they killed the name ? Probably to scrub all historical reality of the former, normal curve of the 1st Year Honeymoon 'New Thing'…followed by a slow downward Old Hat mode. I'm sure we'll see the same data correlation…Dan, you're a database kinda guy…I'm sure those records are available for past home boxscores.
The team cares about attendance, but they care more about revenues. Parkview Field is a different design which maximizes income. You can compare the two stadia and you might see that PvF is a party center surrounding a sporting event. The game is incidental to much that goes on there, it is entertainment with the game only one aspect. Memorial Stadium was a traditional ballpark that did not drain the pockets of each attendee the way, anywhere near the way, of PvF.
Sounds like the same model as the Komets (and they're International..err, Colonial…err, yeah, I do mean International Hockey League)…….I laugh only because as decade-and-a-half season ticket holder of our glorious hockey team, I've notice a troubling trend: I pay in advance for all four of my rinkside tickets…then it seems that a majority of games, to have to 'thank' some 600 Level discount ticket buyer for keeping my front row seats warm during the national anthem….where are those RedCoats when you need them ? and cost-wise vs. attendance, I really can't fault the 600 Level buyers, when you can get your tickets for a mere $5-6 bucks per seat, if you figure in the weekly ad runs or Marathon Fill Up deals…and have your pick of most any 200 Level Lower Arena seats at any given home game…..a deal…much better treatment than those pesky, pre-paying (and loyal) 'season ticket types'.
Here's a Revenue Idea:…sounds like the FWC Zoo could model an Oktoberfest fairly soon….Beers, Deers & Lemurs…..that's all we need to hear at the Lion compound…some guy on the foam faux rock structures yelling…'Here Kitty Kitty….'
Maybe it's time someone filed a citizen taxpayer claim lawsuit against Hardball ?