All stadium - all the time. The Miami business leaders are warming to the new downtown proposal. I guess a real estate slow down will do that.
And the good news for downtown business interests, Miami-Dade County leaders say, is that a proposal to put a stadium on 9 acres of government-owned land just north of the county administration building has the inside track with baseball executives and many elected officials.
"This would do wonders for property values in the downtown area," said John Blazejack, president of Blazejack & Company, a Miami real estate consulting firm. "But any plan has to work to the public's benefit, too."
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Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz said there is a long way to go before a stadium becomes reality. While he prefers a proposed site in his home district of Hialeah, he said, a downtown venue may make it easier to close a projected $120 million gap in the cost of construction and revenues to pay for a stadium.
"There may be more tax money available to pay for a stadium downtown," Mr. Diaz said. "I know Major League Baseball is determined to have the stadium downtown."
That's music to Miami real estate leader Edie Laquer's ears. "A downtown stadium would be one of the best things that could happen to us," she said.
The 9 acres site is the smallest of the ones proposed but it shouldn't be that much a of problem. (Disclaimer: I have never seen the site in question but my analysis is off the amount of land.) Normally most of the land is used for parking but if you have a true downtown site, the already existing parking can be used for the stadium too. Minute Maid Park in Houston doesn't have any parking that is solely for the stadium. Instead they use the already ample parking available downtown. Assuming the approximate situation exist in downtown Miami, 9 acres should be large enough for a ballpark.