A recent rendering of the new stadium. (BizSense file images)
One of the final pieces needed for construction to start on Richmond’s Diamond District was put in place Wednesday, as the city’s Economic Development Authority approved development and lease agreements with the Richmond Flying Squirrels for the project’s anchor baseball stadium.
The EDA, which will own the new ballpark that will replace The Diamond, authorized the signing of its side of those agreements in a specially called meeting that was held virtually. The result of months of negotiations, the agreements set the terms of the ballclub’s lease for the stadium and the venue’s development by an entity tied to the Flying Squirrels’ parent company, Navigators Baseball.
Under the agreements, which the parties are expected to formally sign in coming weeks, the ballclub is to pay $3.2 million in annual rent to the EDA for each of the first 10 years of the 30-year lease. The rent will then drop to $1.34 million for the 11th year and rise 3% each year thereafter.
The overall rent payment over the 30-year lease would total $66 million, city officials have said.
A separate lease between the EDA and Virginia Commonwealth University for its baseball team to use the new stadium remains under negotiation, according to the Flying Squirrels’ agreement.
The rents will be used to pay off $40 million in lease revenue bonds the city has secured to finance infrastructure improvements for the first phase of the mixed-use development. The stadium is to be financed using $130 million in general obligation bonds, which are to be paid back using tax revenue generated by the overall Diamond District development. The city locked in those bonds last month.
The development agreement puts the stadium’s construction cost at $117.2 million, with the actual stadium costing $110 million and the additional funds covering environmental and infrastructure site work.
The overall stadium development cost is projected to total $130.4 million, with the difference above the construction cost covering survey work, public art, architect and engineering design fees, and other eligible “soft costs.” In addition to the general obligation bonds, the overall development cost is to be covered by EDA matching funds and other revenue from the Navigators and VCU.
A rendering of the stadium’s outfield was shown during Wednesday’s meeting. (Screenshot)
Navigators Baseball and consultant Machete Group are leading the 10,000-seat stadium’s design and development through an arrangement with the city and Diamond District Partners, the group led by Thalhimer Realty Partners and Loop Capital that’s developing a 30-acre first phase of the 67-acre, $2.4 billion Diamond District project.
The stadium will fill 10 acres at 2929 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., in the Diamond District’s southwest corner at the boulevard and the train tracks. Initial site work for the stadium started in recent weeks, and the stadium is targeted for completion in spring 2026, in time for that year’s baseball season.
In a news conference earlier in the day Wednesday, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney noted the EDA meeting to approve the agreements, which he described as “a key milestone” for construction to get started. Stoney noted that a groundbreaking ceremony had been scheduled for last week but was postponed because of the threat of inclement weather from Tropical Storm Debby.
Stoney said the groundbreaking, which is expected to include a ceremonial lease-signing, will be held “very soon.” At the EDA meeting later in the day, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Ebert said the groundbreaking is targeted for the first week of September.
Stoney also thanked the Flying Squirrels for their patience and commitment to staying in Richmond.
Levar Stoney
“This is a promise that Richmond made to the Squirrels over a decade ago,” Stoney said. “A number of options were presented, but nothing ever got off the ground. Today in 2024, we are prepared to begin work that will allow for Richmonders to enjoy a new stadium in the spring of 2026.”
Stoney added: “The Squirrels have been such an incredible partner for over the last decade. Many Richmonders – new Richmonders, longtime Richmonders – have expressed this is something they wanted to see. I am grateful for their willingness and their patience to wait as long as they have and continue to stay right here in Richmond.”
According to a project schedule included in the stadium development agreement, construction documents and initial building permits are targeted for September, while vertical construction would start in January 2025. Final inspections and a temporary certificate of occupancy are targeted for February 2026. Ebert said the city has hired local firm Timmons Group to assist with expediting plan reviews and permitting.
The development agreement lays out other details, including several perks worked into it for the EDA, such as a permanent sign in the stadium, a designated suite for hosting economic development prospects and other civic uses, 500 tickets to three games per season, and the right for the EDA or city to hold up to 10 events at the stadium per year.
The agreement says the Flying Squirrels will have a goal of hosting 160 events annually at the stadium by its third year of operation, a number that includes events the ballclub plans to host beyond season games. The ballclub also is to provide a limited number of “affordable” tickets to the community per game.
Also covered are naming rights for the stadium that the Flying Squirrels would sell and retain revenue from. The name of the new stadium has not been announced and is not specified in the agreement. Officials said the name would be announced at the groundbreaking event.
A recent rendering of the new stadium. (BizSense file images)
One of the final pieces needed for construction to start on Richmond’s Diamond District was put in place Wednesday, as the city’s Economic Development Authority approved development and lease agreements with the Richmond Flying Squirrels for the project’s anchor baseball stadium.
The EDA, which will own the new ballpark that will replace The Diamond, authorized the signing of its side of those agreements in a specially called meeting that was held virtually. The result of months of negotiations, the agreements set the terms of the ballclub’s lease for the stadium and the venue’s development by an entity tied to the Flying Squirrels’ parent company, Navigators Baseball.
Under the agreements, which the parties are expected to formally sign in coming weeks, the ballclub is to pay $3.2 million in annual rent to the EDA for each of the first 10 years of the 30-year lease. The rent will then drop to $1.34 million for the 11th year and rise 3% each year thereafter.
The overall rent payment over the 30-year lease would total $66 million, city officials have said.
A separate lease between the EDA and Virginia Commonwealth University for its baseball team to use the new stadium remains under negotiation, according to the Flying Squirrels’ agreement.
The rents will be used to pay off $40 million in lease revenue bonds the city has secured to finance infrastructure improvements for the first phase of the mixed-use development. The stadium is to be financed using $130 million in general obligation bonds, which are to be paid back using tax revenue generated by the overall Diamond District development. The city locked in those bonds last month.
The development agreement puts the stadium’s construction cost at $117.2 million, with the actual stadium costing $110 million and the additional funds covering environmental and infrastructure site work.
The overall stadium development cost is projected to total $130.4 million, with the difference above the construction cost covering survey work, public art, architect and engineering design fees, and other eligible “soft costs.” In addition to the general obligation bonds, the overall development cost is to be covered by EDA matching funds and other revenue from the Navigators and VCU.
A rendering of the stadium’s outfield was shown during Wednesday’s meeting. (Screenshot)
Navigators Baseball and consultant Machete Group are leading the 10,000-seat stadium’s design and development through an arrangement with the city and Diamond District Partners, the group led by Thalhimer Realty Partners and Loop Capital that’s developing a 30-acre first phase of the 67-acre, $2.4 billion Diamond District project.
The stadium will fill 10 acres at 2929 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., in the Diamond District’s southwest corner at the boulevard and the train tracks. Initial site work for the stadium started in recent weeks, and the stadium is targeted for completion in spring 2026, in time for that year’s baseball season.
In a news conference earlier in the day Wednesday, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney noted the EDA meeting to approve the agreements, which he described as “a key milestone” for construction to get started. Stoney noted that a groundbreaking ceremony had been scheduled for last week but was postponed because of the threat of inclement weather from Tropical Storm Debby.
Stoney said the groundbreaking, which is expected to include a ceremonial lease-signing, will be held “very soon.” At the EDA meeting later in the day, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Ebert said the groundbreaking is targeted for the first week of September.
Stoney also thanked the Flying Squirrels for their patience and commitment to staying in Richmond.
Levar Stoney
“This is a promise that Richmond made to the Squirrels over a decade ago,” Stoney said. “A number of options were presented, but nothing ever got off the ground. Today in 2024, we are prepared to begin work that will allow for Richmonders to enjoy a new stadium in the spring of 2026.”
Stoney added: “The Squirrels have been such an incredible partner for over the last decade. Many Richmonders – new Richmonders, longtime Richmonders – have expressed this is something they wanted to see. I am grateful for their willingness and their patience to wait as long as they have and continue to stay right here in Richmond.”
According to a project schedule included in the stadium development agreement, construction documents and initial building permits are targeted for September, while vertical construction would start in January 2025. Final inspections and a temporary certificate of occupancy are targeted for February 2026. Ebert said the city has hired local firm Timmons Group to assist with expediting plan reviews and permitting.
The development agreement lays out other details, including several perks worked into it for the EDA, such as a permanent sign in the stadium, a designated suite for hosting economic development prospects and other civic uses, 500 tickets to three games per season, and the right for the EDA or city to hold up to 10 events at the stadium per year.
The agreement says the Flying Squirrels will have a goal of hosting 160 events annually at the stadium by its third year of operation, a number that includes events the ballclub plans to host beyond season games. The ballclub also is to provide a limited number of “affordable” tickets to the community per game.
Also covered are naming rights for the stadium that the Flying Squirrels would sell and retain revenue from. The name of the new stadium has not been announced and is not specified in the agreement. Officials said the name would be announced at the groundbreaking event.
It’s great to see progress in our city.
The new stadium will cost $130 million and the Squirrels will pay $66 million over 30 years. Leaving tax payers with a $54 million deficit plus yearly maintenance fees. Cool.
I don’t know a ton about Bonds. But if construction costs are 130 million and the ballpark paid for by the city over 30 years – then I’d imagine the cost to taxpayers is not limited to $54 million. Its $54 million plus debt serving plus maintenance. Those debt service payments might be another 100M or more for the city… perhaps even closer to an extra $150M
So the way Kim stated things makes it sound like the Squirrels are paying a substantial sum. But its a smaller share of the overall cost than you think…
I recall seeing the actual cost being in the $250M range when including debt service.
The suggestion here seems to be that the Squirrels lease is the only source for repaying the bonds. That’s but one piece of the return, right? There’s obvious inputs from VCU’s lease terms, naming rights, anticipated increase in revenue generated by attendees (increased seating capacity, additional concession revenue, etc). When’s the last time there were non-Squirrels related public events at the Diamond? I’m expecting the potential for concerts and other revenue generating uses. Then there’s the tax revenue from the additional development around the stadium that had not otherwise been proposed, financed etc but for the location as the home… Read more »
I think some of you overestimate how much tax revenue is generated by an event. Especially one like minor league baseball where tickets are only a modest $10-to-$25. Almost everyone arrives by car and leaves immediately afterward and almost no one travels from far away and stays in a local hotel. VCU will also use the stadium. But their tickets are also quite cheap and their attendance is minimal most games. I sat behind home plate for a VCU/UVA series one or two years ago and attendance was very sparse. Concerts? This venue is essentially in the same rough size… Read more »
I think for you it may be making the best out of it. For me and others who individually and with their families enjoy baseball and the civic uplift of having local sports teams I am actively looking forward to it. Time will tell if the finances work but I am optimistic and hopeful. I also disagree with your take on the adjacent development – that development was never planned or proposed until the stadium was announced with the development built around it. Could something have happened there any way at some undefined time in the future – sure its… Read more »
Actually bizsense comments usually tend to be people who live in Henrico or Chesterfield wanting entertainment venues to be built in Richmond City that they won’t have to subsidize with their own property taxes. Or they are are so misguided they think the modest sales tax on their ticket and concessions will actually payback the construction of the venue. The development was never proposed before because the land was always held hostage about the limbo of the future of Diamond. Scott’s addition proves there is heavy interest in this part of town. DC is an entirely different beast than Richmond.… Read more »
DC being world class says more about the state of our sorry world.
Why wouldn’t the capital and seat of power of the world’s largest economy be a world class city?
What did Ben Kenobi say? “You will never find a more wretched hive…”?
I dunno, maybe the rampant violent crime, the murder and assault rate, the vehicle theft rate, the kangaroo local governance, the very large itinerant government workforce who serve time there so as to go on to greener pastures, but there is a spy museum, so y’know, it has that going for it.
DC recorded the highest violent crime rate in 2022, at 812 incidents per 100,000 residents. The district also saw the highest homicide rate in the country, at 29 homicides per 100,000.
I’m not sure you are allowed to point these things out.
Then why isn’t it?
Also shows that having major league sports does not help a place be well-run.
Baseball fans always expect the rest of society to pay for them.
Yeah, it is an inevitability, but thank you for pointing out the lost opportunities this near religious devotion to baseball makes munis miss out on.
I admit I am a critic of this project, but getting a lease signed means nothing. By the way, it still is not signed and a deal is not a deal until there is ink on paper. The real issue is what does the lease say? I’d love to see a copy of it, and to see what credit and/or security there is in the revenue stream?
Obviously there are people who don’t want you to see a copy of the deal.
All these ballparks across the nation are loss leaders for their communities. But they act as billboards of good will in attracting tourists and businesses to their respective regions. Most studies will tell you that they do not “payback” in full to the sponsoring city, even for those who have major league teams. Still, every city wants to have them, so there’s that. We’ll soon have a new one.
“This is they way we have always done things”
Bruce: Not” ALL OF THE BALLPARKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY” are loss leaders. Let’s see what happens down the road. My concerns relate to attendance. The cost to attend the game will be higher. You can be guaranteed that ticket prices will be higher, and most probably concession and parking prices as well. When the two parking decks are constructed, my prediction is that attendance will have a downward trend. It’s much more of a hassle to exit a parking deck than surface parking, and there will be other components of the Diamond District that will contribute to parking issues. This… Read more »
Meanwhile, with little if any surface parking and parking decks required for most drivers, the Folk Fest and Brown’s Island concerts & festivals continue to thrive year after year.
“Loss Leaders” make it sound like it is
long term strategic thinking — when the studies show it is just a net loss.