SPRING TRAINING
Are Atlanta Braves the only team considering Sarasota County?
Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 1:17 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 14, 2016 at 9:52 a.m.
| This is the artist's preliminary design for a spring training stadium in North Port. The Atlanta Braves are in talks with local leaders about bringing the team to a new spring training baseball complex in North Port as soon as 2018. PROVIDED / MATTAMY HOMES |
Three to four other clubs are interested in potentially sharing the proposed stadium and practice fields at the heart of the planned West Villages “town center” development on 100 to 150 acres near U.S. 41 and River Road, West Villages General Manager Martin Black said Wednesday afternoon.
Black mentioned the possibility of other teams’ interest in the project during an update to the Venice City Commission on Tuesday afternoon, but he would not say which teams are considering the idea.
It appeared to be the first public disclosure that other teams could be added to the plan — which to date has only publicly included the Braves — but Black said he has noted the possibility to other local groups over the past several weeks.
“It may have never been explicit in an article, but it’s not a new thought for us,” Black said late Wednesday. “We’ve always talked about two teams in our conversations with the state and we’ve been in discussions with other teams for some time, but we’re just not at a point where we can disclose that publicly.”
If the West Villages can sign a second team to the proposed $100 million complex, potential state grants for the project would jump from $20 million to $50 million.
Interest from other clubs could also give West Villages back-up options should the Braves ultimately strike a deal to relocate to Collier or Palm Beach counties, where the team also is negotiating.
“It’s a big financial benefit from the state-funding perspective,” Black said. “It’s a multiplier and it’s an economy of scale type of approach. We have the capacity to do to two teams, as far as acreage.”
Local consultants for the Braves and designers of the West Villages commercial district already are collaborating on specific plans for the proposed complex, but the addition of a second team later would not dramatically change that work, Black said. Another team clubhouse and offices would make relatively modular, easy additions to the plans, he said.
Designs are expected to be available for public consideration by the end of the year and the Braves are expected to make a final decision on their next facility in six to nine months, Black has said.
Black and Sarasota County officials have been negotiating with the team behind closed doors since March, when the county commissioners authorized administrators to negotiate on their behalf with the Braves. The team is also reportedly negotiating with officials in Collier and Palm Beach counties.
County officials would not say this week whether one or more other teams also are being considered. They and team officials have repeatedly declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement guarding the ongoing negotiations.
The Braves plan to relocate to a new spring training facility in 2019 after the team’s lease ends at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
Black’s comment Tuesday is the first indication that other teams could be in the mix for the North Port proposal, which has previously been a point of contention for the Braves.
The Braves landed in Orlando in 1997 after jilting a proposed spring training complex at a development in Jupiter amid plans that the Braves split the stadium with another team. Roger Dean Stadium was built at the heart of the commercial and residential development there, and is home to the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.
Officials and developers who worked with the Braves then and helped design the site explained earlier this year that it still stings that the team left the area after decades of holding spring training in Palm Beach County.
That development, called Abacoa, became the standard bearer for many of the Florida and Arizona spring training complexes that have followed, and mirrors the plans proposed in North Port.
Facts
The story so far
Early March: Sarasota County approves formal negotiations with the Braves over possible spring training facility in the West Villages development in North Port by 2018
Late March: Palm Beach County officials reveal they are also in discussions with the Braves about a possible West Palm Beach site, near where the team trained for decades before moving to Orlando in 1997
April: Business leaders in Collier County reveal they, too, have discussed a potential site with the Braves, but the County Commission votes down the proposed site
May: Sarasota leaders say they are still negotiating with the team but refuse to discuss plans, citing a confidentiality agreement, and no other county governments approve formal negotiations with the team
Early June: Braves Vice Chairman John Schuerholz writes both Collier and Sarasota county administrators — just days apart — to indicate the team is still interested in pursuing negotiations with both.
June: West Villages General Manager Marty Black announces the Braves have hired local architects and consultants to work with West Villages staff to design a specific site plan for the proposed complex
July: Black suggests he has contacted "several other teams" about the potential for the Braves and another club to both train at the proposed West Villages location or to have a second team interested in the plans if the Braves choose Collier or Palm Beach
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