Miami-Dade County goes to court today to fight yet another citizen lawsuit challenging the financing plan for a new Florida Marlins ballpark.
Miami-Dade County goes to court today to fight yet another citizen lawsuit challenging the financing plan for a new Florida Marlins ballpark.
It's now crunch time for the ballpark, as the next three weeks will determine whether the place gets built at all. Miami-Dade County Commissioners will meet today to vote on a change to the termination clause in the ballpark agreement, pushing it back to July 15. That's the final date the ballpark-financing agreement can be scrapped before the county and city of Miami pay penalties to the MLB franchise.
The reason for the change: Wachovia, which is lending $100 million toward the $515-million Florida Marlins ballpark project, wants its fees paid up front, a change that requires county approval. That pushes the whole process back two weeks.
Right now there doesn't seem to be much concern from county officials about selling $415 million in bonds over the next few weeks. While we're pretty sure the market will respond favorably — after all, the county is highly unlikely to default — we could see some unexpected happenings regarding rates and other fee assumptions.
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