Staying downtown Phoenix after a Chase Field renovation is the first choice of Arizona Diamondbacks ownership, but putting together a financing deal for up to $500 million in upgrades has proved to be elusive.
Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall has been pretty clear with his preference to pursue a Chase Field renovation and even offering to put up 75 percent of the expected $400-$500 million cost, but that offer has not generated a lot of enthusiasm among elected officials. But with the team’s lease ending in 2027, we’re hitting a deadline when the team looks to build a new ballpark else in the Valley if a Chase Field renovation doesn’t happen. From the Arizona Republic:
“We don’t have our hand out, but if you look at some of the other situations very similar to ours — like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore — in each case they are getting strong investments from the public, from a mixture of city/county/state, and we just aren’t,” Hall said. “Would I welcome that? Absolutely. I’m just still trying to weigh if there’s any help we can get from anybody, what that looks like, whether it’s in the form of land we can develop, or if it’s in the form of a monetary contribution that won’t even be close to what we’re willing to put in.”…
Hall said he still wants to develop the area around Chase Field to make it a mixed-use “destination” year-round, and he said he hopes that gets done whether the Diamondbacks are involved or not.
There had been rumblings in the offseason about the D-Backs looking to created a mixed-use development around the ballpark and take advantage of the facility’s proximity to Footprint Center, and we expected some sort of decision to have been made this summer. Hall’s warning may spur some action, though it looks very unlikely the team would leave the Phoenix market.
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