The Better Boise Coalition, a group dedicated to getting a new multi-sport and entertainment complex that could become the new home to the Boise Hawks, will meet with community and real estate leaders on Tuesday to discuss a new report and to decide the next steps to making their dream a reality.
FIRST STEP: A SLEW OF STUDIES
About three months ago, the coalition hired the DLR Group, a national planning and architecture firm, to conduct the Boise stadium site analysis. The coalition would not say how much it paid DLR Group for the 24-page study, which will be released on Tuesday.
After reviewing more than a dozen sites in Boise, which needed to be at least 7.5 acres in an accessible location and compatible with surrounding development, the consultant identified six potential sites.
Of the six, four are privately owned, one is owned by the city and one is partly owned by the city and a hospital.
Three of the six sites are within the proposed 30th Street urban renewal area.
The study looked only at potential sites in Boise, not other cities or the region. Memorial Stadium, the ballpark where the Hawks minor-league baseball team now plays, is in Garden City.
Earlier this year, the city of Boise commissioned a $20,000 analysis of the market for a multipurpose stadium. The 53-page report suggested that a new stadium would increase attendance at Hawks games from an average of 2,800 to roughly 4,000. In addition to hosting a baseball team, a new facility could be used for football, soccer, softball, concerts, family shows and other large outdoor events.
The Hawks paid for their own study in 2010 and reached similar conclusions.
Meridian considered trying to woo the Hawks last year but balked after the team refused to enter into an exclusive agreement
WHY IS A NEW SPORTS COMPLEX NEEDED?
Memorial Stadium was built in 1989 for $2 million. Now, the ballpark is outdated and needs major upgrades, Hawks general manager Todd Rahr told the Statesman in July.
The Cubs’ contract with the Hawks is up for renewal in 2012. Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts toured the ballpark this summer as part of his franchise-wide look at minor-league facilities. Without saying so directly, he tied a new or improved stadium to a continued agreement between the Cubs and Hawks, their short-season Class-A affiliate.
“The facility here is below standard,” Ricketts said. “All the (minor-league) facilities we have are substantially better.”
That’s when the Better Boise Coalition formed.
“I don’t want to wake up realizing we’ve lost baseball in Boise,” Marc Johnson, a leader of the coalition, said at the time.
HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST?
The Boise study showed that the average Class A short-season ballpark built since 2000 cost $26.7 million. The Hawks’ study estimated $23.7 million.
Land prices for the six sites identified in the new report range from $10 million to basically free, since the city already owns the 8.46-acre site at 30th and Fairview.
Memorial Stadium is in Garden City, adjacent to Les Bois Park and the Expo Idaho grounds. The Hawks own the structure and have a $1-a-year lease on the land with Ada County through 2039. Renovating Memorial Stadium into a multi-use facility could cost as much as $13 million.
WHO WOULD PAY FOR A STADIUM? HOW?
Right now, the proposal is unfunded.
The Cubs control and pay for scouting, player development and coaching; the Hawks are responsible for the stadium, its maintenance and upkeep. Neither has offered to pay for improving or building a new stadium.
And so far, no private developer is willing to pay for the whole kit and kaboodle.
The Better Boise Coalition is including donation forms in its brochure — $500, $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000 gifts accepted — but it would take a lot more than that to build a stadium.
The Better Boise Coalition report references four possible funding options:
• Option 1: Urban renewal area — Tax increment financing — paying for public improvements by capturing the increase in property taxes that improvements generate — can be used within a designated urban renewal area such as Boise is considering creating around 30th Street .
Who approves it: The City Council would decide.
• Option 2: Auditorium District — The Greater Boise Auditorium District owns and operates the Boise Centre convention center. It receives about $3.5 million annually from a Boise-area 5 percent hotel room tax. Through this revenue stream, the district has been able to accumulate a $10.3 million reserve fund for a new or expanded convention center.
Under state law, an auditorium district has the power to construct and operate “public auditoriums, exhibition halls, convention centers, sports arenas and facilities of a similar nature.”
Who approves it: The Auditorium District board .
• Option 3: STAR
Under the sales tax anticipated revenue — STAR — bill approved by the Legislature in 2007, if the developer of a retail complex makes at least $6 million in improvements to a state highway or freeway, that developer can recoup the cost by keeping a percent of sales tax revenue generated by the development. In Post Falls, Cabela’s agreed to pay for a new freeway interchange; it will recover the costs from sales taxes generated by the store.
Who approves it: The State Tax Commission and the Idaho Transportation Department .
Option 4: EB-5 — The EB-5 immigrant investment program permits foreign investors to qualify for U.S. residency (a “green card”) if they commit $500,000 to $1 million for two years and create 10 jobs. If jobs are not created, a green card is not granted.
Several Idaho business ventures are exploring or pursuing immigrant investors as a new source of capital, according to information on Gov. Butch Otter’s website.
Who approves it: U.S. Customs and Immigration Service.
• Another option available, but not referenced in the report, is a tax levy or bond election: A decade ago, the Boise Foothills Open Space Campaign, managed by now-Councilwoman Lauren McLean, lobbied the community to approve a serial tax levy to preserve Foothills land. In May 2001, 59 percent of Boise voters passed a $10 million, two-year property tax levy to pay for open space acquisition and conservation. The owner of a $150,000 home paid about $45 per year for two years.
A similar plan could be used to get money for a stadium.
Who approves it: A serial levy requires 50 percent voter approval; a construction bond requires two-thirds voter approval.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Better Boise Coalition will discuss next steps with civic leaders during a meeting Tuesday hosted by the Urban Land Institute, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Owyhee Plaza Hotel, 1109 W. Main St.
Tickets are $30 for ULI members, $45 for nonmembers with discounts for public sector/nonprofit employees, students and “young leaders” under age 35. Registering at the event is an additional $5. For information, visit www.idaho.uli.org.
Cynthia Sewell: 377-6428
