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Sugar Land seeks proposals for ballpark

The city of Sugar Land, Texas is seeking proposals for a new ballpark and concert venue.

he city of Sugar Land, Texas is seeking proposals for a new ballpark and concert venue.

The Houston suburb has been talking pro baseball for the last few years; folks affiliated with the Pacific Coast League and the independent American Association have expressed interest in working with the city on a ballpark plan. And there's a level of funding already in place: in 2008 voters approved using existing city tax revenues (from the 4A fund) and addition new taxes, such as ticket taxes, to pay for a ballpark.

The goal is to have the ballpark open for the 2012 season.

Here's the full press release from the city:

Sugar Land is seeking proposals for a minor league baseball stadium and an indoor concert venue that could result in facilities by 2012 and 2013.

During the past year, discussions focused on specific developers but agreements were not reached. There has been continued interest from other potential development partners, including independent league baseball teams.

Formal Request for Solicitation of Interest (RSI) documents are intended to identify additional partners for the development of a minor league baseball stadium and indoor concert venue.

Voters authorized funding tools on Nov. 4, 2008, that could be utilized for a minor league baseball stadium and an indoor concert venue; these include existing capacity from the 4A Corporation and new venue-specific taxes (i.e., ticket tax, hotel tax and parking tax).

Community feedback remains strongly in favor of the projects, and market assessment studies have demonstrated that there is an opportunity for a concert venue and ballpark in the region.

The RSIs for the ballpark and indoor concert venue must be submitted to Sugar Land by Dec. 31 and Feb. 28, respectively. The City will then evaluate each submission and work toward developing agreements that allow Sugar Land to complete the stadium project by April 2012 and the indoor concert venue by January 2013.

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