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This column talked about bonds issued solely for the stadium and were called the Queens Ballpark Co. LLC bonds.... These bonds were " downgraded from BBB to BB-plus from S&P Global Ratings—basically, to junk-bond status."
In our case, Polar Park does not have their bonds, but are backed by the City of Worcester.
The thing that we should take from this, however, is that if the DIF revenues are not enough to pay for Polar Park and we have to take monies from the General Fund.
What effect would this have on our bond rating????
Key paragraph from the column:
We’re seeing a similar situation in Massachusetts, where investment and increased revenue for projects surrounding the $130-million Polar Park was pledged to build the new home of the Worcester Red Sox (Class AAA; International League). Some of that new development is on hold and will certainly be reevaluated: given changes in behaviors due to COVID-19, for instance, can two hotels economically thrive?
The city has already taken action to protect ballpark financing in the form of an expanded Canal District Ballpark DIF Development District. (Massachusetts District Improvement Financing is basically the same as what called a TIF in many other states.)
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