Baseball debate turning into a full season of speculation

As soon as it seems dead in the water, the baseball debate in Richmond keeps coming back.

Charlie Diradour extended his hand in peace today to those in the opposite dugout at a news conference he called.

Connecticut, the giant Indian sculpture, looked down over the scene, a thick layer of pollen dusted over its head and shoulders.

“The arguments are over with,” Diradour said to a small audience of reporters gathered in front of the Diamond this morning.

Diradour was an outspoken critic of the downtown stadium plan recently dropped by Highwoods Properties. He founded his own website, BaseballontheBoulevard.com, as an advocacy platform for bringing baseball back to the stadium abandoned last year by the Richmond Braves. Diradour also owns a development company, Lion’s Paw Development, that is active primarily in the Fan District.

Today he announced he was shutting down the Baseball on the Boulevard site and launching Friends of Richmond Baseball to take its place.

“What I want to do is bring both universes together,” Diradour said.

He invited corporations to post their logo on the site to show support of bringing an Eastern League team to Richmond. He also announced he was shutting down his Facebook group and replacing it with Friends of Richmond Baseball, inviting supporters of the Shockoe Center plan to join as well.

Diradour made it clear he still was personally in support of redeveloping the Diamond, in particular a plan by Maryland-based Opening Day Partners owned by Peter Kirk for $28 million. The company has developed as many as 14 ballparks along the East Coast.

“Peter Kirk sent a plan to the administration,” Diradour said. “I call on the administration to at least call Peter Kirk.”

But that plan could have some competition.

The Times-Dispatch reported today that  the Reynolds Packaging Group is pitching their property on the south bank of the James River, directly across from downtown, as a  possible site for a new stadium.

The T-D reports that a Reynolds executive “pointed out the property” to Mayor Dwight Jones and other city leaders as a good location for a stadium. Real estate firm CB Richard Ellis is marketing the sale of the 18-acre property.

City officials said no one has proposed to them an official plan to build a stadium at that location.

Richmond Baseball Club set to take over Defender’s lease

Last month, Bryan Bostic of Richmond Baseball Club LC announced they planned to buy a AA baseball team in Connecticut to replace the AAA Richmond Braves.

Their plan to buy  the Connecticut  Defenders is closer to becoming a reality, despite no guarantee that the stadium slated for Shockoe Bottom will be built.

According to local newspaper The Day, Norwich City Council will consider a resolution next Monday that would assign the lease of Dodd Stadium to Richmond Baseball Club.

The Defenders’ current owner Lou DiBella said the team could be sold to Richmond by early April, according to The Day.  The sale is still awaiting approval from the Eastern League, which will likely require either a new stadium or an upgraded Diamond as a condition of the sale.

The Times-Dispatch previously reported the expected purchase price will be $15 million.

The Defenders current lease in Norwich ends in 2012, but there is a buyout provision that allows the lease holder to terminate early for a penalty of $140,000.

According to previous statements, the investors would move the team to Richmond for the 2010 season. The team would play at the Diamond until the new stadium is finished in 2011 or 2012.

Op/Ed: Bottom Falls Out of Baseball Plan

Op/Ed by Brian Glass:

From September 2003 until March 2008, I wrote a monthly real estate opinion column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. On nine occasions I wrote about the renovation or replacement of the Diamond. This is obviously a story that won’t go away, as I discovered on the morning of Jan. 14 with a front-page article on the newest scheme to finance a Shockoe Ballpark with state sales tax dollars, for what appears to be a Class A or Class AA minor league baseball stadium that will cost approximately $60 million dollars. The idea is being proposed by State Del. Manoli Loupassi, who obviously hasn’t done the research to know that this is a non-starter, even though it may sound good in theory.

Before this goes any further, I am asking that Del. Loupassi as well as State Sen. Henry Marsh and Mayor Dwight Jones pick up the phone and call the City of Aberdeen, Md., to find out the risks of a baseball complex being an economic generator. Read more

Is the ‘Curse of Diamond Duck’ over before it took hold?

Richmond might some day lament the day Diamond Duck left for Atlanta, ushering in an era without baseball.

A new stadium would probably cure any budding curse before it becomes debilitating. (Read: Curse of the Bambino) Developer Highwoods Properties and their team have until March 1 to submit a letter of intent and outline their financing plans for a $60 million Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium. Several calls to Highwoods were not returned, but representatives of the development team have told other media outlets that the project will require limited public financing. Read more

Developers throw Richmond a meatball. Or is it a knuckle ball?

On Monday the City of Richmond finally announced its plans for Shockoe Bottom and North Boulevard: Tear down the Diamond, and build a new stadium downtown. Throw in an ample mix of retail, office and residential development at both sites. Just $765 million later, fans will have a new baseball team, the city will once again be a major shopping destination, and peace and prosperity will reign over the area for 1,000 years as a choir of heavenly angels sings. BizSense has five pros and five cons of the plan. Read more

Charlotte baseball team might fit in Richmond

Balpark Digest is reporting that the Tripple A Charlotte Nights are the most likely team to move to Richmond so far.

According to the website, “Multiple sources in ownership ranks and the N.A. confirm the Charlotte Knights (Class AAA: International League) are first in line to claim the open Richmond market, with Ken Young and the Bowie BaySox (Class AA; Eastern League) slipping to the #2 spot. With tough times in the credit market, the escalating cost of a new ballpark in Charlotte’s Uptown area and the seemingly endless legal battles, owner Don Beaver is looking at all his options — and a potential move to Richmond is on the list.”

Sources have told BizSense that Mayor Wilder is now a fan of a downtown ball park, and that he will make an announcement at a press conference later this month. However, we have not confirmed it.

Eastern League Coming to Richmond?

Eastern League president Joseph McEacharn has left the door open for a new EL-affiliated Richmond baseball team.

Major League Baseball places restrictions on what can be said about new teams, because certain hurdles need to be cleared before information is made public. But judging from McEacharn’s comments to the Times of Trenton in New Jersey, the possibility is there. Read more

$40 million ballpark — Boulevard or elsewhere

A Pennsylvania developer of minor-league ballparks has released renderings of a possible $40 million, 8,500-seat stadium for the Boulevard, but he’s open to building downtown, too.

Peter Kirk, a long-time team operator from the independent Atlantic League and a partner with Opening Day Partners, is working with former Richmond mayor Robert Bobb to develop the entire parcel. The City of Richmond put out a request for proposals. Kirk said his group could invest some money in the development but that minor league stadiums generally must be at least partly financed by local or state governments. Read more

Seventh Inning Questions

I’ve been thinking a lot about the business of minor league ball. A few questions: How much would a local business pay for the naming rights to a new stadium? What businesses might be likely candidates? Does paying for parking illicit some emotional reaction from consumers and turn them off, and would the Diamond get better turnout if parking was free?Paul Woody had an interesting column in Wednesday’s paper, wondering why Minor League Baseball seems to have final say over how or when Richmond gets another team. Read more

Bush League

Josh Leventhal, a blogger for baseballamerica.com, has a nice response to the weekend’s T-D coverage of the ongoing baseball saga.

He writes, “Discounting the importance of a ballpark and fan experience is what got Richmond into this mess.

Triple-A baseball is not coming back to Richmond, certainly not anytime soon. If Richmond focuses its attention on what level of play it “deserves” rather than the more pressing problem of building a new ballpark, it might find itself without any baseball players to watch for quite awhile.”

Look for a BizSense story on how a new ball club can run a better business than the Richmond Braves, and what it might mean for other businesses in town.