^overall just a positive article for a lot of different things. I just think all development is key and hopefully that includes a marlins ballpark.

FYI - This story just ran on CBS4 News...

They interviewed Straubb on the phone.

They should really consider this as their second option. Man with money + land = STADIUM!!!

MIAMI (CBS4) ― It was the first home of the Miami Heat, The Florida Panthers, and the hopes for a revitalized Overtown area. All of those have moved out now, and within weeks, the Miami Arena is scheduled to meet the wrecking ball. It's the end of the arena, but CBS4 has learned it's not the end of hopes for sports crowds on the edge of Overtown.

 

 

Developer Glenn Straub says he still holds hopes that the Florida Marlins could locate home plate of a new Marlins stadium right in the middle of the land where the Heat once trod the boards.

 

"We can be ready for 2011 if somebody gets going right now," Straub told CBS4's David Sutta in a wide-ranging conversation Friday.

 

Straub has been the owner of what has become Miami's biggest pink elephant since buying the facility, built for more than $50 million in 1988, from the city for $28 million at a 2004 auction.

 

That gave Straub a piece of Miami history at about $50 cents on the dollar, but now he says he wants to sell it back to the city as the site of a new Marlins stadium.

 

It's just 5 acres in size, but Straub thinks that's plenty of room.

 

"The renderings are already done," he told CBS4's Sutta.

 

The Marlins, Miami-Dade county and the City of Miami want to put the new ballpark on the patch of dirt left by the demolition of the Orange Bowl, at the edge of Little Havana.

 

A lawsuit has tied that plan up in the courts, and with the Marlins facing a 2011 deadline for having a new home, the clock is ticking.

 

Straub sees his land, and his plan, as a clean break. The Palm Beach County developer said not only will he sell the city the land, he stands ready to finance a large part of the construction cost.

 

"The only thing I can tell you is that we have the money and cash and we can prove it and finance it ourselves," he said.

 

Like virtually every part of the Marlins' saga to find a home of their own, there is a catch. Straub said he'd want the Orange Bowl site, a potentially very valuable piece of land, in return. He hopes to build a soccer stadium and a horse center on the site.

 

He thinks the city, the county, and the team need to take a hard look at his offer.

 

"Everyday they wait," he said. "It's gone up probably another $100 million dollars over the last few years, and they are still discussing things."

 

Even though he has his own proposal, Straub said he still backs the city's plan for a stadium at the Orange Bowl. He just wants the powers that be to know if that deal is called out at the plate, he has their back.

 

"If they want to do it, fine," he said. "If they don't we we're going to continue to keep looking at the deals that are coming in on the table."

 

http://cbs4.com/marlins/marlins.orange.bowl.2.785995.html

Heh, if he wants to donate money to building a stadium and transfer complete ownership and control to the Florida Marlins, Give him the damn OB site and tell Norman Braman to suck a dick.

 

f***ing cock sucking Norman Braman and his dumb ass henchmen. I hope a Civic flips his Ridgeline into an desolate embankmant and he's stranded for weeks.

 

*I'm drunk.*

Heh, if he wants to donate money to building a stadium and transfer complete ownership and control to the Florida Marlins, Give him the damn OB site and tell Norman Braman to suck a dick.

 

f***ing cock sucking Norman Braman and his dumb ass henchmen. I hope a Civic flips his Ridgeline into an desolate embankmant and he's stranded for weeks.

 

*I'm drunk.*

 

Amen

 

 

 

I think that they should really consider this option still. I know the OB is better location, but I think Straub can really help this. Also, now that it is on a second news station it is picking up more steam.

The OB site for a horse track?!?! Umm, we had Hialeah park for that and it went no where. Not too sure horses are a sure thing in Miami. I know Gulfstream does great, but not sure how it would do this far down. I can see the soccer stadium working, however, they can use Marlins Stadium for that as well, just convert it.

 

Give the OB site to the Fish. Give the Arena site to Norman the f***head and let him put another auto dealer on there, give Straubb a cut and everyone is happy.

Responding to a last-minute suggestion from the Miami Arena owner that a new ballpark for the Marlins could be built on that site, Major League Baseball's President and Chief Operating Officer told MLB.com that a shift from land that once housed the famous Orange Bowl to the projected rubble of the old downtown arena would be a major setback.

The $525 million deal for a retractable domed stadium in Little Havana was approved earlier this year by Miami Dade County, the City of Miami and the Marlins, who pledged a $155 million contribution. The ballpark is part of a $3 billion redevelopment project aimed at renovating one of Miami's oldest and most historic neighborhoods on the outskirts of downtown.

 

Though contracts were expected to be signed this summer, the project has been delayed by a Miami Dade County Court. No resolution is expected soon, placing an intended 2011 opening for the ballpark in peril.

 

"We've located a site that is optimal for the development of a new stadium. Building at the old arena site would be extremely problematic," said MLB's Bob DuPuy, who has spent hundreds of hours negotiating the current deal. "This could cost us an additional year, if not two years. Right now, time is not our ally because the Marlins' lease [at Dolphin Stadium] expires in 2010, and the arena site does not present a viable alternative to us."

 

Twenty-year-old Miami Arena, which once was home to the National Hockey League's Panthers, National Basketball Association's Heat, and University of Miami men's basketball, is now vacant. Last week, as a Miami Dade County judge delayed ruling on a lawsuit filed against the stadium project by Norman Braman, the former owner of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles, arena developer Glenn Straub entered the picture.

 

In a phone interview with a local television station, Straub said the interior of the arena has already been cleared out and that the structure will be imploded before the end of the month.

 

Straub reportedly said that he and his partners want to build a stadium for the Marlins on that property and that they would finance it themselves. Straub also said he wants to swap the land for the site of the demolished Orange Bowl because he has plans to develop it.

 

DuPuy said Straub's plan is impractical for numerous reasons.

 

"It is our view that the careful negotiations for the stadium were the product of literally years of work, among Baseball, Dade County and the City of Miami," DuPuy said. "We looked very hard at that [arena] site when we were looking at downtown sites. More land would have to be acquired. The general obligation bond of $50 million wouldn't be available, so even if the costs were exactly the same, we'd be short $50 million.

 

"There's difficulty there with utility buildings and power lines that would have to be relocated. There's a railroad line cutting through there that would also have to be relocated. And finally, the community is committed to developing Little Havana and the Orange Bowl site, and we want to be part of that development."

 

MLB consistently has been committed to remaining in the Miami area, and last week MLB tangibly affirmed that commitment by awarding second-round games in next year's World Baseball Classic to Dolphin Stadium.

 

In an Op-Ed piece that appeared Sunday in the Florida Sun-Sentinel, Commissioner Bud Selig reiterated that it was important for Baseball that the Marlins remain in the community.

 

The Marlins, with a Major League-low $21.8 million payroll, have remained near the top of the National League East standings all season. They have never won a division title, although they claimed the NL's Wild Card berth in 1997 and 2003 and went on to win the World Series both times.

 

"The Marlins are an important part of the fabric of South Florida," Selig wrote. "If the Marlins continue on the current pace, they will draw approximately 1.5 million fans this year -- more than the combined attendance of the Dolphins and the Heat this past year. Moreover, the team's television ratings consistently rank in the top 10 of all baseball markets.

 

"How can one forget the over 500,000 fans that attended Marlins home games during the playoffs and World Series in 2003, an average of 65,000 fans per night? I believe South Florida loves the Marlins and, with the appropriate facility, they will thrive over the long term."

 

The Marlins are last this year among MLB's 30 clubs in home attendance, having drawn an average of 16,057 and 915,264 total through 57 home dates.

 

The Marlins attracted a high of 3,064,847 during their inaugural 1993 season but since then have exceeded 2 million once -- in 1997.

 

Braman's lawsuit is being heard in the Miami Dade County Court of Judge Jeri Beth Cohen, who is up for re-election later this month. The judge already has ruled against five of Braman's seven allegations and is about to rule on another, regarding whether there is a valid public purpose for the use of public funds to construct a stadium.

 

But the final assertion -- that the global development proposal needs to be brought to a public vote -- has been delayed by Judge Cohen until at least September, when the Florida Supreme Court reconvenes and can rule on a similar case, which involves Escambia County.

 

The Florida Supreme Court initially overturned almost 30 years of precedent by ruling that the use of property-tax dollars to pay off general obligation bonds has to be taken to a public vote. The state's highest court later agreed to rehear the case, which is under consideration.

 

That court is now in recess until the end of the month.

 

Thus, the clock is ticking. The Marlins have been told they must vacate Dolphin Stadium when their current lease expires at the end of the 2010 season. Because of continued court delays and a possible scuttling of the project, the team may have no place to play locally in 2011.

 

"Foregoing another year or more of the new stadium revenues, plus the losses in the old stadium, are something that is very troublesome and something that is being carefully monitored," DuPuy said.

 

Sports facility projects paid either in part or in full by public funds, have often been fodder for legal tests.

 

In San Diego, for instance, the completion of PETCO Park, which opened in 2004, was delayed by more than two years because Bruce Henderson, a former San Diego City Councilmen, filed 16 separate lawsuits and appeals. The Padres ultimately shared about $150 million of the $400 million project cost, but the City Council declined to issue bonds until the final appeal was rejected.

 

In Miami, this is the third time since Jeffrey Loria and his limited partners purchased the team in 2002 that a ballpark project, involving significant private and public money, has been on the docket. The first two times it was scuttled by the State Legislature, which wouldn't vote to involve any public dollars in the project. This time, the State was out of the process.

 

Even before that, efforts to fund a new ballpark in South Florida have been fruitless. Loria is the third Marlins owner who has tried to resolve the stadium issue since the franchise expanded into the NL in 1993.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

The bottom line is the Marlins being beholden to any private owner of a stadium, let alone Straub, is bad news. If this team is going to be viable in South Florida they need their own stadium and be able to draw maximum revenues from that stadium. Switching from Huizenga at JRS to Straub at the MA site is just going from the devil you know from the devil you don't. And from what I know of Straub, the Marlins should want no piece of this.

What Straub would do is sell the arena land to the Marlins and the city after he has built the stadium. It wouldn't be like Joe Robbie with Huizenga.

What Straub would do is sell the arena land to the Marlins and the city after he has built the stadium. It wouldn't be like Joe Robbie with Huizenga.

 

So the selling price would be on whatever Straub spend on the stadium, how HE decided to design, with whatever roof HE decided to out on it, and then lay his PROFIT MARGIN on it? Straub is not a philanthropist, he's doing this (which is a bad choice of words because he has no such intention in the first place for some many reasons) to make a buck.

 

The economics of a cock-eyed plan like this just don't add up. He never mentioned where he'd find the extra parcels and what he would pay for them, or how such a transfer of public property to a private entity would take place, a big no-no for a lot of people. And for the record, the only reason he's tearing down the Arena is so he doesn't have to pay taxes on an improved property. he will immediately upon demolition file to have the land revalued (on the tax roles) as an empty unimproved vacant lot.

 

Gee, no thanks.

well, atleast we got a back up plan

well, atleast we got a back up plan

 

:banghead. It's not a backup plan, it's a con job being passed off as a pipedream.

I'm a little late on the uptick here but I'm totally excited about the revival of a downtown site. Let's make this happen. The idea of delay for site shifting is a joke considering idiot Braman's lawsuit means delays at OB too. Everyone knows the OB site is terrible, so why on earth we aren't pouncing on Straub's offer is beyond me. As for it costing more, wasn't it shown that OB would be more expensive?

I'm a little late on the uptick here but I'm totally excited about the revival of a downtown site. Let's make this happen. The idea of delay for site shifting is a joke considering idiot Braman's lawsuit means delays at OB too. Everyone knows the OB site is terrible, so why on earth we aren't pouncing on Straub's offer is beyond me. As for it costing more, wasn't it shown that OB would be more expensive?

I think the biggest concern is the added delay it would add to this project.

I'm a little late on the uptick here but I'm totally excited about the revival of a downtown site. Let's make this happen. The idea of delay for site shifting is a joke considering idiot Braman's lawsuit means delays at OB too. Everyone knows the OB site is terrible, so why on earth we aren't pouncing on Straub's offer is beyond me. As for it costing more, wasn't it shown that OB would be more expensive?

Because what Straub owns is isn't big enough to build a stadium on, not even remotely, which would leave the three partners - city, county, Marlins - in the unenviable task of trying to acquire other parcels to get a big enough footprint and, well, you don't have to go further than that.

 

Straub has no offer, he hasn't spoken to anyone outside of the press and Norman Braman and to think he only wants what's best for the Marlins is the laugh riot of the century.

In Miami, this is the third time since Jeffrey Loria and his limited partners purchased the team in 2002 that a ballpark project, involving significant as little private and as much public money as humanly possible, has been on the docket.

Fixed.

I'm a little late on the uptick here but I'm totally excited about the revival of a downtown site. Let's make this happen. The idea of delay for site shifting is a joke considering idiot Braman's lawsuit means delays at OB too. Everyone knows the OB site is terrible, so why on earth we aren't pouncing on Straub's offer is beyond me. As for it costing more, wasn't it shown that OB would be more expensive?

 

 

The OB site os more expensive but its because the land is more valuable. The OB site is actually a favorable location which has a high opportunity for profit. That area is prime real estate right now and that land is FIRE in the market right now.

Pinch me if we've seen this one before: http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/090305/story5.shtml

 

I smell a dead fish here. Land at the edge of Overtown. Additional redevelopment $$$ to buy off Spencer-Jones. Familiar spot for Miami sports fans. Conspiracy?

 

Does anyone thinks that he's pining to buy the Marlins and place them there?

Pinch me if we've seen this one before: http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/090305/story5.shtml

 

I smell a dead fish here. Land at the edge of Overtown. Additional redevelopment $$$ to buy off Spencer-Jones. Familiar spot for Miami sports fans. Conspiracy?

 

Does anyone thinks that he's pining to buy the Marlins and place them there?

 

 

This by far is a way better option.

1) Location is much better. Even Samson thinks so, but when Dupuy told him accept the OB site or it wouldn't be done on time he accepted it. Mass transit, in the heart of downtown.

2) Better access to roads and highways

3) Goes well with the redevelopment of downtown Miami plan

4)Most importantly Financing is much better. This will decrease the negative press we are getting. No bonds for 1.8 billion. The public will accept better.

 

The commissioners should have not waited this long to vote this way. They should have spoken up last Feb. when this was agreed upon. They are guilty of incompetence and not speaking their mind in the beginning. Stinging people along is not right

 

The Negatives

1) Time delay - This will delay opening unitl 2013 because of negotiating and planning.

2) Will Loria and Sampson agree to this deal? I would have the city and county negotiate with Mr.Staub first and then present a plan to the Marlins. If it comes from the city then they are more likely to pass it.

 

This appears to be the only option in this economy. The original deal has so much neg. public opinion it is not a good situation. Use the Miami arena site it will be better for everyone in the long run. Its not wise for the county to take extra debt if not needed.

 

If I were Loria I would sell the team to Staub, make a profit and call it the day.

This is merely the Marlins being passed from one slaveowner (Huizenga) to another (Ross) to another (Straub).

 

Renters. All their revenue sources evaporate. Everything they've worked for up in smoke. Not to mention this guy (and please research his background yourself) is of questionable trust. Once again the Marlins will wind up with the worst "lease" in baseball and be forever the poorest.

 

He would have the Marlins sign a longterm lease and then he would cash out, passing them along to another slaveowner who would do the same in a few years while the Marlins continue to exist in poverty.

 

I've written about this before as have others. As a privately owned building it's subject to property taxes which adds another layer of expense. Being privately owned, financing costs are much higher. As a privately held project getting through the development boards becomes a never ending and expensive process.

 

Please don't go down the Joe Robbie story road. A) he virtually bankrupted himself and his family with his folly, that's how Wayne got involved in the first place and B) this fantasy that Robbie did it on his own his pure BS. Why do you think the Marlins get zero revenue from clubseats and skyboxes? Because all that revenue is pledged to servicing municipal bonds on the stadium that's why. The Joe Robbie story makes for some nice reading but most of it isn't true.

 

And most of what you read in Miami Today falls into the same category.

If I were Loria I would sell the team to Staub, make a profit and call it the day.

 

He doesn't have the money to build a stadium nevermind build a stadium and buy the team.

 

What Miami Today ignores (because it's convenient in furtherance of their POV) is that even if he had the $ which he doesn't, even if he got MLB to buy the adjacent land they have an option on (options by definition are time sensitive, what evidence is there that they even hold those options any longer?), EVEN if he got the FEC (RR) to sell theirs THE FOOTPRINT ISN"T BIG ENOUGH.

 

What this developer wants in this declining real estate market is to get out with a profit by someone else trying to assemble the lots needed and buying him out. That someone else winds up being th county.

This guy is bad news. Just ask the folks at Palm Beach Polo in Wellington.

ok... if its 17.2 acres in down town what is it at the OB site?

The problem has always been the RR rght of way and its shape not mention you have to deal with all these micro-landowners east of the old arena site. You can see the problem if you go tothe Miami Dade County Property Appraiser DB and the FEC line is the one that goes to the Port.

 

LOL I was just thinking of the scene in "Brewsters Millions" with Richard Pryor.