Fiscal 2023 DIF Account

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Great Comment!!!!

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 Don't confuse how successful the WooSox may be with how successful the City may be. 

 

The WooSox do not pay anything to the City based upon their profits, they have a lease payment which is not tied to the amount of income the WooSox make. 

The City is counting on the additional revenues that may be derived from the development across the street and parking revenues in City lots and garages to pay the bonds it issued to build the ballpark. 

These are mutually exclusive. 

In fact the Team can be wildly successful and the City could simultaneously lose it's shirt if the development does not occur

 


 

Comments

Common Sense said…
Is the garage that the developer is building across the street from the park going to be open to the public or is it solely going to be used to support his project? What happens if it takes two or three years from now to finish his project? Is the garage just going to sit empty until then?
July 2, 2021 at 1:14 PM
Anonymous said…
I thought it was a City garage?
July 2, 2021 at 1:41 PM
Common Sense said…
I think your right. I forgot about that aspect of the project. I payed $5 to park at the Federal Plaza Garage (across from the Hanover) when I attended the game. I'm pretty sure I pay $15 when I attend shows at the Hanover.
July 2, 2021 at 4:13 PM
Anonymous said…
I can see the residential buildings being built at some time. Residential units is all that appears to be being built at this time throughout the City.The office building and hotel are years away, if ever. I thought It was a pipe dream before the pandemic now it is a fantasy. The City and the developer need to think quickly about the development plans and adjust.
In the end they will probably just plant grass on the dirt across the street and keep repeating "doesn't it look better than before?". The question should be "is this worth leveraging $175 million to build the WooSox a ballpark?" That will be the question when the City starts paying the debt.
July 3, 2021 at 2:28 AM
Anonymous said…
Residential construction in Worcester has always been an affordable alternative to Boston and if the MBTA could get better times for train service to and from Boston the market would be that much better. There has been a cluster of housing around Union Station for years, well before the construction of Polar Park, and I would speculate that will continue. One issue that still stymies the rental market in Worcester is the fact that the construction costs are close to those in Boston but the rental rates currently are not. If the economics of residential development I think more housing units would materialize.
July 3, 2021 at 5:16 AM
Anonymous said…
Here’s another issue right now, you have the parking garage being built which will have 350 spots. Your going to have 350 cars in that parking garage which will be good for the next couple of seasons when it’s complete. However, when that building overlooking polar park as well as all the construction that is planned to be happening around the ballpark is expected to be completed (the 2 hotels, office building, the 200,000 sq ft building and more restaurants/other businesses) then that parking garage is going to be a mess for woosox games. The reason why is you have the 350 spots, you get all the businesses that will be built using the garage, you’ll have (mostly) everyone in the office building that will be overlooking the park use it, the hotels will use some of it (even if they have their own lots), but all the other businesses and buildings being built (and that are already built) will use the garage as well. What will happen is all the spots will be used during the day from the people in the office building, some hotel guests, along with workers that are at the businesses in the Kelly square area along with customers supporting those businesses as well. When it comes to be between the hours of 3-6, your going to have the transition of workers in the businesses and restaurants nearby switching from am/lunch to pm/dinner staff, the office workers leaving, but you’ll also have to add on the woosox fans coming in to use the garage as well as the workers arriving that work at the ballpark. The gridlock that’ll happen when entering and exiting with all those people is going to be a mess and is just going to cause more congestion on the road outside the ballpark. The more buildings that open and are built in that area, the worse parking will get. That garage will give relief for 3-5 years but once those businesses are built and open, we’re looking at another situation like this year all over again where you’ll be far away trying to find a spot for the game.

Another thing to mention, when will you be able to go to polar park, be around the ballpark and inside of it, and see that there’s no more construction for it?
July 3, 2021 at 1:16 PM
Anonymous said…
In summary, the City built the dramatically over budget ball park in the worse possible location, did absolutely no planning and have been trying to correct mistakes thru the entire process and into the future. Worcester at its best.
July 3, 2021 at 3:19 PM
Anonymous said…
I hope all that development occurs but I am not holding out hope. A new office building when you have the UNUM building vacant and the glass tower 50% occupied. Hotels ? Serving who, are we expecting a sudden draw of people going to Bucks and staying overnight? A lab building, which is in Siberia compared to the new biotech park by UMASS. This all sounded good at a press conference but now realty is setting in. Blame will be placed on the pandemic and not a bunch of morons running this project.
I would call the parking problem you describe a success but I do not see it happening any time.
July 3, 2021 at 4:57 PM
Common Sense said…
Unless the developer is a total moron I would think that he would have some study of the vacancy rates of the hotels we have now. I am in poor health, but I was able to make the walk from the Federal Plaza Garage to Polar Park. I don't think one-site parking is a big deal.
July 4, 2021 at 12:21 AM
Anonymous said…
It is completely obvious that the moron in the developer’s and WooSox’s negotiations over the ballpark and surrounding development was not on their side of the table.

As usual, Worcester taxpayers, especially those laying the huge commercial rate, will get stuck with the bill if they can’t flee the city.
July 7, 2021 at 4:31 AM
Anonymous said…
A boondoggle to the tenth degree and we taxpayers will be stuck with the bill.
July 9, 2021 at 5:34 PM
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