Atlanta, GA

Anchoring Retail and Hospitality to Sports Stadiums: Is It Worth It?

Published

8 months ago

October 24, 2023

Anchoring Retail and Hospitality to Sports Stadiums: Is It Worth It?

The Battery Atlanta — developed using a professional sports stadium as an anchor to a much larger development — has become a go-to model for big league sports teams whose playing fields are by far their largest and often most controversial expense. And in the age of $40 million-plus a year for pitchers, that’s saying a lot.

Since 2017, the Battery Atlanta has been the home of Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves and Truist Park, a reportedly $765 million ballpark at the center of a mixed-use development on what Cobb County officials describe as a heretofore underused expanse just outside the Atlanta city limits.

The Braves described the Battery Atlanta to Commercial Observer as “a sports and entertainment experience at the intersection of Interstates 75 and 285 in the Cumberland area. [It] offers an unprecedented entertainment experience 365 days a year, not just on game days.” The 2 million-square-foot, mixed-use development includes restaurants, bars and games such as bowling and mechanical bull riding, according to the team. It also has stores and a 4,000-seat live music venue.

The complex is owned by Braves Development Company, which in turn is owned by Atlanta Braves Holdings, a parent company that owns the ballclub and that itself is owned by media and entertainment giant Liberty Media.

Bob Ott, who was a Cobb County commissioner for 12 years, said the county governing board had been trying all that time to attract development to that area. Only after the ballpark was approved did the long-sought development arrive.

“It’s not just that site,” said Ott, who along with the late commission chairman Tim Lee led the drive to lure the Braves to Cobb from Downtown Atlanta. “It’s the whole surrounding area. [I live] under three miles from the stadium and, if you want to do a three-mile circle around that stadium development, lots of stuff has come in there. Restaurants. We couldn’t get restaurants to survive on Powers Ferry Road, and now we have new restaurants opening. There’s been three or four in the last three months.”

Now the Tampa Bay Rays — whose home has been the dingy Tropicana Field since the MLB franchise started in 1998 — have a plan for a new 30,000-seat ballpark that will follow “the example set by the Atlanta Braves,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The new park will anchor “a massive redevelopment project that would put the new stadium at the center of a multi-use residential and commerce district in the heart of St. Petersburg.”

And, in Flushing, Queens, home of the New York Mets, owner Steve Cohen may be trying to reverse-engineer such a development. Last year he presented a plan to erect 1,100 affordable apartments and a new school on land across the street from Citi Field. The area was once known as the Iron Triangle, filled with body shops and other automotive repair facilities. Cohen has also applied to open a casino in the area around the ballpark, and there are plans for a separate soccer stadium in the area.

All of which begs the question: Is the Braves’ ballpark concept worthy of being a model for other teams and cities to follow?

To J.C. Bradbury, a professor of economics at the Cobb-based Kennesaw State University, the answer is a hard no.

“The Battery didn’t work,” Bradbury said in an email. “I see no reason a similar design in St. Petersburg would work.”

Bradbury is the author of a 98-page report, published in March of last year, which found among other things that Truist Park and its surroundings — far from stimulating Cobb’s economy — instead are costing taxpayers about $50 per resident per year to service stadium debt and fund operations. That’s $15 million annually for the county as a whole. Contacted earlier this month, Bradbury said that the passage of time has not cured the situation, and he remains an opponent of the project.

“The evidence is clear that Truist Park has failed as an economic development project,” he wrote in the report. “It is important that local leaders acknowledge the reality of the project’s negative returns and running deficit, and other communities should heed the lesson.”

Cobb County property value growth, whether near the stadium or all over the county, has been typical for the Atlanta region. The region has benefited from booming employment, which means the Battery and its individual parts have had no outsize influence on the county’s $57 billion economy, Bradbury wrote. He also found that Cobb taxpayers are on the hook for police and security when events at Truist draw large crowds.

A Rays spokeswoman declined to comment, but referred Commercial Observer to the team’s website, which contains a rundown of that team’s plan. The rundown shows an 8 million-square-foot development with 4,800 residential units, a quarter of them affordable; 1.4 million square feet of office and medical space; 750,000 square feet of retail; 750 hotel rooms; a 4,000-seat performance venue; a 100,000-square-foot conference and meeting space; 50,000 square feet for community groups; and 14 acres of open space besides the ballpark. Called the Gas Plant area after a gas plant that once operated there, the plan places the cost at more than $6 billion. Hines is the developer.

The Rays’ site does not identify how costs would be divided between the team and public entities such as the state, Pinellas County (where St. Petersburg is located) and the City of St. Petersburg. In an Oct. 13 writeup of a Pinellas County commissioners meeting, the Tampa Bay Times reported that negotiations on a term sheet were ongoing and that some of the cost of the stadium would come from the county’s tourist tax fund, a 6 percent levy on hotel stays and short-term rentals.

Ott, the former county commissioner, said the Bradbury report was myopic and misguided in its take on the Braves’ complex.

“There was a cooperative plan between the Braves and the county. The Braves delivered what they said they would deliver, and it has been financially successful, contrary to what he said,’’ said Ott. “There are five funding sources for the stadium, one of which was county funds. In the beginning, it was $8.6 million of county funds that went toward servicing the debt. One of the things I put in place in the [memorandum of understanding] was that as revenue increased that number had to come down. My understanding is that in 2022 revenue coming in was such that none of that $8.6 million — none of that — was coming from the general fund anymore, because the other funding sources were paying the debt.”

Even as the stadium cost went up — according to the Bradbury report, original cost estimates were $622 million to $672 million — Cobb County’s contribution was capped at $300 million, Ott said.

In a report that the Braves franchise commissioned, Smith College economics professor Andrew Zimbalist, an outspoken critic of the multimillion-dollar sports venue industry, said that, between 1970 and 2010, the median public contribution to professional sports stadiums was 79.6 percent. At Truist, the public share was 45 percent, not including the $1 billion-plus that the Braves have invested in area real estate.

“It’s been a net fiscal plus for Cobb County,” Zimbalist said in a phone interview.

A Braves spokesperson echoed that sentiment in an email to CO. “Truist Park and Battery Atlanta are widely recognized as the most successful sports venue and mixed-use development of our generation, and is a transformational project for public-private partnerships with municipalities. We are extremely proud of our relationship with Cobb County and have delivered exceptional value to its residents while also providing all visitors and fans a destination for making memories with family and friends.”

Atlanta’s office market could use the help. Vacancy rates are soaring and companies are trying to sublease excess space, a trend that a recent Wall Street Journal piece blamed at least partially on rising interest rates. The region was unlike New York, where companies bidded up offices to have a presence in Manhattan below 59th Street. In Atlanta, there is no individual market or neighborhood seen as compelling. Companies therefore demanded new state-of-the-art offices in concentric circles radiating out from the city.

Commercial real estate brokers describe the Battery as something of an oasis in a desert. Audrey Giguere, Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Atlanta research manager, said the Cumberland submarket, which includes the Battery, had a 20 percent office vacancy rate, which is actually pretty good by Atlanta standards. She said that share was lower than the Atlanta metropolitan area’s overall vacancy — 23.2 percent in the second quarter — and that the Battery was actually the strongest submarket in the entire metropolitan area.

Even though the Cumberland area is quite small, Giguere said it made up 20 percent of the office leasing activity in the third quarter.

“It’s a pretty extraordinary submarket,” she said. “It is in our suburban area, but it performs like it might be in our CBD. There’s so many options, not just for people who want to go for a Braves game, but people who want to go to dinner. There’s retail, chef-driven restaurants; things that make it a wonderful place.”

One obvious difference between what the Atlanta Braves have done and what the Tampa Bay Rays are trying to do is that the Rays hope to re-energize a part of the St. Petersburg market that they are already in. The Braves moved after the 2016 season from Downtown Atlanta to a new outpost in the city’s northwest suburbs. From 1997 to 2016, the team’s home was Turner Field, which had been the central venue of the 1996 Olympics, and was then remodeled for baseball.

For the Rays and the people who run St. Petersburg, they have to hope that their development will hold up against a similar one built on the Tampa side of the bay, called the Water Street campus, said Josh Faircloth, C&W’s research manager for central and northern Florida. That project, ironically enough, is centered around the Amalie Arena, where the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning play.

“They’re kind of expecting the same thing,” Faircloth said, “with all the mixed-use, the restaurants, apartments, things that bring people in. “

For many politicians, a ballclub and a venue are trophies, symbols to voters that they did something to attract or retain big-time sports. A certain segment of voters are sports fans, and getting and keeping a team is something that gives them pride. For them, the numbers are meaningless. To this day, Brooklynites argue over who was more responsible for losing the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles — the team’s team-owner Walter O’Malley or New York infrastructure czar Robert Moses.

The Rays, of course, suffered widespread embarrassment earlier this month when the team attracted only 19,704 and 20,198 fans to a ballpark with a maximum capacity of 42,735 for two postseason games with the Texas Rangers, both of which the Rays lost. Still, the team has now qualified for the postseason five years in a row, and won American League pennants in 2008 and 2020, earning plaudits for fielding a contending team year after year despite playing in a small, low-revenue market and in an underproductive stadium.

The new ballpark would be the smallest venue in Major League Baseball.

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Atlanta, GA

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper threatens to sue Atlanta over sewage dumping in river

Published

1 hour ago

July 3, 2024

Press Room

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper threatens to sue Atlanta over sewage dumping in river

Possible lawsuit over river sewage

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper has slapped the city of Atlanta with an intent to sue because of the mess that stretches nearly 60 miles downstream.

ATLANTA – The city of Atlanta has responded to a potential federal lawsuit over sewage dumping in the Chattahoochee River.

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper – an environmental nonprofit working to preserve the health of the river – has slapped the city with a notice of its intent to sue over violations of the Clean Water Act because of the mess that stretches nearly 60 miles downstream.

“We’re talking 80,000,000 gallons per day going into the Chattahoochee River that is only partially treated,” Jason Ulseth, the executive director of the group, told FOX 5’s Rob Diirenzo.

That’s why the nonprofit told the city of Atlanta they’re taking them to federal court if the spills don’t stop.

“Atlanta’s been working on it for several months. They’re not moving fast enough so we put them on notice. We gave them 60 days to get this plant fixed and online, or we will hold them accountable in federal court,” Ulseth said.

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper periodically tests the water. They say since March, there have been high levels of E. coli and other hazardous bacteria that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

“We’re at a very real risk of fish kill on a major extent of the Chattahoochee River, downstream from Atlanta, if this doesn’t get fixed, and if it doesn’t get fixed quickly,” Ulseth said.

The sewage can be traced to the RM Clayton Water Reclamation Plant on Bolton Road in northwest Atlanta. It’s there that a limited amount of treated sewage can be released into the river.

But the Riverkeeper says the infrastructure to treat it hasn’t been kept in working order, which makes the 60-mile section down to Franklin possibly dangerous.

“If you’re young, immunocompromised, or elderly, you probably won’t want to come in contact with the water,” Ulseth said.

Atlanta responds to possible Chattahoochee lawsuit

The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management responded to the organization’s intent to sue on Tuesday afternoon, saying, “Both the City of Atlanta and CRK are aligned and share the same goal of protecting the water quality of the Chattahoochee River. Thus, we believe our collective time and efforts are best spent working towards that goal, not pursuing expensive and protracted litigation.”

The department also said it was committed to getting its operations functional and compliant with state and federal environmental rules.

Ulseth says it’s important that the compliance comes quickly.

“This tiny river sustains over 5 million people. We have to do everything we can to protect it or else it’s not going to be here for future generations,” he said.

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Atlanta, GA

College Students Tased By Atlanta Police During George Floyd Protests To Get $2 MIllion Settlement | Essence

Published

8 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Press Room

College Students Tased By Atlanta Police During George Floyd Protests To Get $2 MIllion Settlement | Essence

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JUNE 17: Taniyah Pilgrim (L) and Messiah Youngas listen to Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. announce 11 charges against former Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe on June 17, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. Rolfe is charged with felony murder of Rayshard Brooks, 27, on June 12 while chasing Brooks after a struggle during a field sobriety test in a Wendy’s restaurants parking lot. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Two Atlanta college students have received a $2 million settlement stemming from a lawsuit they filed after being tased and pulled from their car while they were stuck in traffic during a George Floyd protest in 2020, according to the AP.

Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim filed the lawsuit in June 2021, arguing that the police had no cause to pull them from their car and shock them. Video of the May 30, 2020, incident went viral, and immediate action was taken by then-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and then-Police Chief Erica Shields, who fired two of the police officers and placed three others on desk duty.

Police body cam footage released following the clash showed a young man saying he hadn’t done anything and pleading with officers to release him as they placed him under arrest during a traffic jam.

Young, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car at the time, appeared to be filming the incident. The officers approached his car and yanked open the door. Young closed the door and told the officers to let the young man in custody go and let him get into his car.

Young then attempted to drive away but got stuck in traffic, and the officers ran up to both sides of the car, shouting demands. Pilgrim, who was in the passenger seat, tried to leave the vehicle, but at that point, officers tased her and pulled her from the car.

The scene escalated as police ordered Young to put the car in park and open the window. He refused, and the officers started trying to break the driver’s side window with a baton. They finally broke the window and tased Young and violently got him out of the car.

In the footage, police were also heard shouting, “Get your hand out of your pockets,” and, “He got a gun. He got a gun. He got a gun.” Young was then placed under arrest. However, no gun was ever found.

The settlement with the city of Atlanta comes after the two officers who were fired were reinstated, and the six officers involved in the case were cleared of any charges. At the time of the 2022 ruling, the Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Samir Patel explained that the officers’ actions were justified given the law. “Not only was law enforcement acting within the scope of their legal authority in their actions to obtain compliance, but their actions were also largely consistent with the Atlanta Police Department’s own use of force policy.”

In reaching the settlement, the Atlanta City Council, which approved the payout, was careful to say that it was not an admission of liability. However, Pilgrim’s lawyers, Dianna Lee, L. Chris Stewart, and Justin Miller, said in a statement to the AP, “This case has been a roller coaster of emotions for two innocent college students who were the victims of unjustifiable excessive force by officers of the APD.”

Young’s lawyer, Mawuli Davis, echoed the sentiment, “The resolution of the civil case will allow these young people and their families to continue healing from this traumatic experience,” Davis continued, “It is important for them to help the community to remember that the fight to prevent police brutality continues.”

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Atlanta, GA

Giants-Braves Series Preview

Published

16 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Press Room

So, Alex Anthopoulos spent most of this offseason being lauded for his skill in developing Atlanta’s roster and foresight in locking up key pieces. He’d been anointed a dynasty builder with but one World Series under his belt, and it’d be hard to argue against the notion; the assemblage of young talent, controlled by ownership-friendly long-term deals created a formidable opponent. They’ve disappointed a bit this year, but they’re still a tough team.

That’s the thing with plans. Sometimes, they go poof. The San Francisco Giants made a lot of plans this offseason and then even once the season starter — plans within plans! — and all of them have evaporated before their eyes. There was no plan after Spencer Bivens the other day and he surprised us all with a stunning 5 inning performance against the Dodgers. As spectators and weirdos in the cheap seats/blogs, we’re afforded the luxury of simply wondering, “Now what?” and having no wrong answer because our thoughts on the subject have no bearing on reality — but the team has to answer the question.

Atlanta is not the best team in the NL East and they’ve suffered two crucial injuries — Ronald Acuna Jr. & Spencer Strider — that virtually guarantees they’ll be a Wild Card team this season; but, it’s still baseball, and it’s plausible that anything can happen, particularly where talent is concerned. The Phillies just lost Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, and while they might not be out for an extended period, the lead in the East is 8 games; Atlanta has been white hot at home (26-14 on the season; 8-3 in June) and this series against the Giants kicks off a 6-game homestand where the concluding trio will be against Philadelphia.

Why should this concern the Giants? Well, after ending April 19-9, Atlanta has gone just 27-27, but they’ve mostly had the problem the Giants have had of doing poorly on the road (20-22 on the season; 6-10 in June). The Wild Card is setup so that the hottest teams win it in the final month or so, but what about those teams that have cruised to a Wild Card spot? Could they get hot enough that the power of belief and the collapse of the team ahead of them gives them a division instead? The Giants could be facing a team on the runway about to takeoff.

That it comes after probably the most exciting series of this season (so far) certainly sets up a situation where the Giants don’t carry over any of that amazing moment. They haven’t won a season series against Atlanta since 2016, and they’re 8-12 at Truist Park since it opened in 2017. But, there’s always reason for optimism. The Giants will be throwing their very best starters out there. The bullpen had the benefit of a legitimate off day on Monday, and hitting in Georgia in July is going to help even the Giants’ bats — BUT!

Waaaaaait a second. Atlanta’s team line of .243/.308/.401 registers as a 100 wRC+ — exactly league average. The Giants’ .247/.317/.391 is five percent better than league average (105 wRC+). They’re… a better hitting team? That’s a surprise. Atlanta has a couple of offensive surprises going for them, but the loss of Acuna Jr. has really hurt them this season, along with a couple of cratering performances.

Atlanta wins it all back with their pitching, though. Their team ERA is not only the fourth-best team ERA in MLB (3rd in the NL), it’s literally a full run better than the Giants (4.50). The FIP matchup is half as stark: Atlanta’s team FIP is 3.50 compared to the Giants’ 3.92. Despite pitching in a bandbox, they’ve allowed the second-lowest HR/9 (0.86), behind only the Phillies (0.80). And even without Spencer Strider, their team K/9 of 9.11 is #1 in the NL (#2 in MLB). They’re also pretty good at getting groundballs (45.7% – 3rd in MLB; Giants #1 – 49.4%).

This kicks off a 6-game road trip and a 12-game stretch before the All-Star break where the Giants’ mettle will be tested. This is probably the toughest way to have started such a trip outside of maybe Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, or Camden Park; but remember, even if the Giants go 0-12, they’ll still be in the Wild Card race.

Series details

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves
Where: Truist Park, “Atlanta,” Georgia
When: Tuesday (4:20pm PT), Wednesday (4:20pm PT), Thursday (4:20pm PT)
National broadcasts: MLB Network simulcast (Thursday)

Projected starters
Tuesday: Hayden Birdsong vs. Reynaldo Lopez
Wednesday: Jordan Hicks vs. Chris Sale
Thursday: Logan Webb vs. Charlie Morton

Where they stand
Braves, 46-36 (4th in NLC, +3.5 WC), 354 RS / 301 RA | Last 10 games: 5-5
Giants, 41-44 (4th in NLW, -3.0 WC), 380 RS / 409 RA | Last 10 games: 5-5

Braves to watch

Adam Duvall: It looks like the tattered rags of a security blanket this former Giant has provided Atlanta over the years has finally tattered too far. His .161/.244/.291 line is dreadful and in the second half of June (14 games; 50 PA) he was even worse: .146/.180/.167 with 20 strikeouts against just 2 walks. The swing and miss and low walk totals have always been a part of his game, but he had just two extra base hits in ALL of June (a homer and double). He seems more likely to be DFA’d ahead of this series rather than play in it, but if he does, you’d hate to see him finally flash some signs of life against his original team. In 42 career games, he’s hit 11 home runs and has an .837 OPS.

Chris Sale: This was a wild trade made in the offseason that most people quickly came around on because of Atlanta’s largesse. Basically, the team’s finances and talent depth were viewed as being in such good shape that they could afford to absorb the potential downside of adding the ornery Sale to the mix. He’d finally returned to make 20 starts for the Red Sox last season after years of health issues. This season, he’s already 15 starts in and shows a lot of the stuff that made him a perennial Cy Young candidate from 2012-2018. He’s struck out 118 in 93.2 IP (11.3 K/9) and walking fewer (1.6 BB/9) than his career average (2.1). The home runs haven’t been much of an issue either — just 7 allowed this year. The Giants do have the best wRC+ against left-handed pitching (121; 5th in MLB).

Reynaldo Lopez & Marcell Ozuna: I bring these two up not because I want to spotlight a domestic abuser in Ozuna, but because I want to bring up the comparisons to the Giants. Lopez is a closer being converted into a starter a la Jordan Hicks. He’s also basically a 5 inning guy, but overall, having a better season (2.2 fWAR vs. Hicks’ 0.6). Meanwhile, Ozuna as Atlanta’s DH has been one of the best hitters in the sport, and as a contrast to the Giants’ full-time DH and former Brave, Jorge Soler, it will probably not look equal at all and serve to remind that the Giants are doing “the poor man’s” version of what successful teams do.

Giants to watch

Michael Conforto: I like the former Met against the former division rival in a hitter-friendly park. Like Adam Duvall, he’s been largely bad in June, slashing .167/.241/.333 over his most recent 54 PA. But! If you want to really be a homer, and you should, since this is a Giants fan blog: he’s 6-for-his-last-19 with 2 doubles, a triple, and a homer. So… maybe he’s getting hot? That’d be nice.

Giants starting pitchers: It’s not just that the bullpen has been strained, it’s that these are the three best pitchers on staff at the moment. You will forgive Hayden Birdsong if he gets shelled in just his second major league start by a veteran lineup and Hicks may very well be out of gas, but Logan Webb pitching a gem on the road would sure serve as a proof of concept that the Giants are a legitimate, you know, baseball team.

Jorge Soler: His career line in Atlanta’s new home: .294/.413/.532 with 9 home runs in 173 career plate appearances. He had an .845 OPS in 109 June plate appearances so there’s legal grounds for declaring that he’s on a hot streak. Let’s watch and see if that continues.