Taxes could finance new Tampa ball field | Divorce Money Help

TAMPA ? If you went to bed early, the Rays surely shocked you when you woke up.

And though the team pulled off a remarkable comeback, the question still nags St. Petersburg and the team?s owners ? How much longer will the Rays play ball at the Trop?

?If that divorce takes place, then as a region we need to decide whether or not we keep the Rays, which we should.? And then equally as important, what the best location? I?ve also said that I thought the best location is somewhere in downtown Tampa,? said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Buckhorn has not shied away from the question or the debate whether or not building a baseball stadium across Tampa Bay would fill more seats.

Rumors over a Channelside land deal involving a Denver investor with family ties to the owners of Colorado Rockies? Coors Field were just as wild as the crowd last night.

?No baseball stadium. These guys are not affiliated with Major League Baseball,? said Sean Lance of NAI Tampa Bay.

The 7-acre parcel across from The Forum is just too narrow according to the commercial real estate broker. Lance also says the owner, Michael Baker, is using the property for pay parking and has plans for a multi-family development in the future.

But Lance says that doesn?t put downtown Tampa out of play.

?There?s a former Civitas project across the street from the Encore development right now, which I think would be a beautiful location,? said Lance.

If the Rays were to move, it would take significant money from the owners, but a stadium deal could be completed through tax increment financing, according to the city. Tampa built its Convention Center using the property tax method.

?They established a Community Redevelopment Area in the downtown district so property taxes that were raised in downtown were used to support this Convention Center,? said Bob McDonaugh, Urban Development Manager for the City of Tampa.

Those Convention Center bonds will be freed up in 2017.

?I think we need to look at all of our options and be ready if that day comes,? said Buckhorn.

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Source: http://divorcemoneyhelp.com/divorce_finance/taxes-could-finance-new-tampa-ball-field

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