"It's all about the Dollars, these greedy weasels."

Well that is the purpose of running a business.

There's a pretty good opinion-piece on AZ Snakepit about why the Diamonbacks will probably not be going anywhere. I recommend the read. Of special note would be the $653 million pricetag to build an arena in today's economy. I don't think the reservation would be willing or even able to finance that amount at this time with everything they already have going.


http://www.azsnakepit.com/2016/3/27/...ks-chase-field

This.

True except for the fact they are extorting the public to make those dollars. That doesn't bother you?

my comment was in response to them being referred to as weasels because they are concerned with the dollars.

Nothing more to it really, that's how business works.

Whether or not I agree with them asking for public assistance is a whole 'nother conversation.

Agree. Chase Field is still one of the best ballparks in baseball IMO. If they can afford Greinke's contract, they can probably afford to make the necessary repairs that any aging stadium requires. If the repairs aren't typical, they should take it up with the contractor that built a (potentially) faulty stadium - not the taxpayers. 81 home games each year is incredibly valuable to Downtown, hopefully they can hash it out soon.

Funny that you should mention that. I drove by Edison after my Circles post and you are correct. Water truck is now onsite, the tractor has a couple holes dug up by the backside fence and there are new paint lines in various spots. Hopefully this is a promising sign!

That's a cop out.
 

What other city has ponied up an additional 187 million dollars within 18 years of having built and provided for their baseball team a palace? That's looney toon material. That is not how "business" works when you are being supported by the taxpayers. The San Francisco Giants paid for their own stadium and they are very successful in winning 3 out of the last 6 titles. The Diamondbacks paid for only part of their palace the taxpayers ponied up the rest. So tell me again how business works! So tired of sports teams extorting cities to make themselves rich.

Ok, I'll be more direct.

The goal of running a business is to maximize your profits and minimize your losses.

The Diamondbacks believe that is what they are trying to do, I don't think they are wrong. Do you think they are wrong?

I'm tired of reading how Giants stadium is an example of "how" it should be done. That stadium was an anomaly and built during a time when Silicone Valley was flush with cash. Unless the franchise is in LA or NYC, that will never happen in smaller markets. And the $187M amount, is the cost of maintenance and upkeep for the remainder of the stadium's life. We're not talking about a simple paint job here, but repairs that are needed to keep it going. And repairs that the County is responsible for according to the lease terms

The $187 is for the next 8 years. That's really not that unreasonable to keep a huge place with an expensive roof like that up to par.

"Sports teams extorting cities to make themselves rich?" You are kidding right??? The entire D-Backs franchise is worth probably $600-$700M, which is less that what it would take to build a new ballpark. My guess is Kendrick (the primary owner) is worth $1-2B. Tell me how you expect the D-Backs to pay for a new ballpark?

In addition, Kendrick inherited $200M in deferred salaries that he has been paying down from the Colangelo era. The team has been putting any profit (probably $10M-$20M/year) back into the product on the field. They are NOT banking hundreds of millions per year.

It really baffles me that people don't do the simple math and just assume teams are making hundreds of millions per year. Income is very different than profit.

Salaries are very different than income also. There is a widely known rule that says "Pay yourself first." Many companies are making $0 profits while owners make millions. Some players make millions. Contractors make millions. Owners make millions. We treat our sports teams like charities because as you are alluding, they are not self-sustainable, but there are people collectively banking hundreds of millions per year.

Remember that awful office tower that was proposed on Van Buren west of the Bankruptcy Courthouse with the ugly plaza? Looks like a developer is in the process of submitting an apartment proposal for that entire block. No word yet on product type, density, height, etc...but will keep you posted as I learn more.

That proposal was turrible. Just turrible.

https://totebot-images.s3.amazonaws....s-turrible.jpg

This is good news for Phoenix. A developer with a proven track record and some pretty cool looking projects under their belt...excited to see what's in the "pipeline"

http://azbigmedia.com/azre-magazine/...xpands-phoenix

This developer builds big-ass projects! Check out their projects in development. As Drumpf would comment, "they're huge (pronounced 'Uge')

Well, we were correct! Edison posted on their FB page that construction will begin soon... After some sort of countdown.

Awesome! Guess we can count this out of the "stalled" projects! I wonder if APS causes the delay because of the power lines and utility poles that needed to be removed?

I'm not sure why some of you thought it wouldn't be built, no one is going to spend that amount on marketing if it's not a sure thing.

Exactly. There are so many reasons why a project stalls or takes some time. Commercial real estate is not like residential as there are more hoops, permits, financial issues and the like. Remember when everyone was thinking Union was dead, dead, dead? Shit just takes time.