Cobb County paying $302 million toward Braves new stadium

[LynnHarris]

"The Cumberland land play continues in the wake of the Atlanta Braves' planned relocation to Cobb County.

Atlanta-based Greenstone Properties has acquired a little more than 7 acres at Interstate 75 and Cumberland Boulevard not far from the site of the newly proposed Braves stadium. Crescent Resources was the seller.

John Williams' Preferred Apartment Communities is the equity partner for the new mixed-use project, which will include a 237,000-square-foot office building, 250 apartments and up to 8,000-square feet of retail..."


Greenstone latest to buy land near new Braves stadium - Atlanta Business Chronicle

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

I wouldn't say it is the Tea Party faction as much as it is the Libertarian wing. Blurred lines, yes, but still a distinction.

Sounds like the Tea party is in the thick of it, however, since the Robocall was made by Debbie Dooley.

You would think Cobb would have vetted this with the Tea party and Libertarians first. Coming out with it after the fact makes it even more suspicious.

In the city of Atlanta they can ram these things through without including the taxpayers in the loop but not in Cobb.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The Cobb Tea party is not going to take this thing laying down. They have already shut down the county switchboard with phone calls of protest.

About time they do what they are supposed to do rather than deal with a bunch of morals BS.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

About time they do what they are supposed to do rather than deal with a bunch of morals BS.

The Tea party and the libertarians would be well served to focus on protecting the taxpayer and otherwise let people live their lives.

[Joke Insurance]

Originally Posted by American Luxury

This is a terrible idea, but I am also against things like this that create sprawl. What exactly was wrong with the Turner field that a new stadium needs to be built?

This.

Originally Posted by sskink

No access to MARTA will put a whole lot of concession/stadium workers out of jobs.

By the time the new field opens, Turner Field will have been open for a whole 20 years. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think the previous record holder for shortest use of a stadium by any major professional league was the Seattle Kingdome at 24 years.

Seems silly to me to build a new stadium that seemingly shuts out a lot of people who use mass transit while at the same time reducing seating capacity, but I'm not running the Braves. It would be like the Indians moving Progressive Field to Middleburg Heights or the Pirates moving PNC to Cranberry.

And this.

[Listennow32]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The Braves also wanted to privately finance a maglev train to the stadium, and to take the lead in developing the area around the stadium.

Is it just me or does that seem like an utterly ridiculous idea... Correct if I'm wrong, but I believe maglev technology was intended for long distances. Not some Cobb to Atlanta commuter rail..

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by Listennow32

Is it just me or does that seem like an utterly ridiculous idea... Correct if I'm wrong, but I believe maglev technology was intended for long distances. Not some Cobb to Atlanta commuter rail..

The maglev design and technology proposed is just as capable going 1 mile as going 1000 miles. Just like your car is just as capable of running you 2 miles to the store or 200 miles to visit grandma.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Listennow32

Is it just me or does that seem like an utterly ridiculous idea... Correct if I'm wrong, but I believe maglev technology was intended for long distances. Not some Cobb to Atlanta commuter rail..

It would be perfect for an application like this.

Atlanta Braves pitch maglev train from GSU-MARTA station to Turner Field | SaportaReport

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Not necessary.

Remember, the city got the stadium for free.

The Braves have already sunk another $130 million of their money into the facility and were willing to put in a lot more. ($200 million in Cobb). The Braves also wanted to privately finance a maglev train to the stadium, and to take the lead in developing the area around the stadium.

"At the Monday press briefing, the Braves said the fan enhancements would cost $200 million in addition to the $150 million in regular maintenance — $350 million over 20 years. By comparison, the Cobb stadium would cost $672 million, of which the Braves said they would contribute $200 million.

That means that if the City of Atlanta could come up with a revenue stream of between $5 million and $10 million a year for the maintenance of Turner Field, it could help bridge that gap."

More at What it would have taken for Atlanta to keep the Braves at Turner Field

The bottom line is that the city simply took the Braves for granted and dropped the ball. Nothing was too much for the Falcons, but the Braves couldn't even get a response.

Originally Posted by Listennow32

Is it just me or does that seem like an utterly ridiculous idea... Correct if I'm wrong, but I believe maglev technology was intended for long distances. Not some Cobb to Atlanta commuter rail..

Originally Posted by MattCW

The maglev design and technology proposed is just as capable going 1 mile as going 1000 miles. Just like your car is just as capable of running you 2 miles to the store or 200 miles to visit grandma.

I think that arjay57 was referring to the proposal announced earlier in the year (well before the Braves announced that they were moving to Cobb County) to attempt to correct the problem of the lack of a direct MARTA connection to Turner Field by connecting Turner Field to MARTA by way of a local maglev line.