The Chicago Cubs aren’t certain yet whether a northwest Mesa site is big enough for their new spring training complex and the proposed Waveyard water park.
Team Chairman Tom Ricketts said Wednesday that the team wasn’t familiar enough with the needs of Waveyard, which until a week ago would have filled the entire 125-acre site at the intersection of loops 101 and 202.
After the Cubs expressed interest in the city-owned site, Mesa announced plans would begin to put both uses there. Ricketts said the site is the best place in Mesa for the new complex despite not knowing how Waveyard could fit in.
“We just don’t know,” Ricketts said. “It’s not something we’ve studied very closely.”
Ricketts spoke at a Mesa Rotary event as the team builds support for Proposition 420, which Mesa voters will consider Nov. 2. The measure allows the city to spend more than $1.5 million on a sports facility.
The stadium will cost $84 million, and the Ricketts family plans to invest additional money on a privately funded entertainment complex dubbed Wrigleyville West. The team will focus initially on the baseball components of the development and then start working on the entertainment portion, Ricketts said.
Mesa has just started to work on plans for the Cubs and Waveyard on the same site, City Manager Chris Brady said Wednesday. Brady met with an architect Wednesday to start sketching configurations.
”I think it’s going to be tight,” Brady said. “There’s not a lot of extra room.”
As part of the deal to have Waveyard share the space, the city dropped a requirement that the developer include a resort and 200,000 square feet of stores and restaurants. By building only the water park, Waveyard will need about 20-25 acres, Brady said. The Cubs will need about 100 acres.
The biggest challenge likely will be parking, Brady said. The two parties won’t have major events that overlap, so they could probably share some parking.
Brady said Mesa will develop plans quickly and see if they work for the Cubs and Waveyard.
“I’m hoping to have something next week and maybe in two or three weeks we can sit down with both sides and see if we can work this out,” he said.
The Cubs are seeking a new stadium because the current facilities at Hohokam Stadium and Fitch Park have been surpassed by other teams that hold spring training in the Valley.
Ricketts said winning a World Series after more than 100 years is his top priority, and that better facilities are essential to developing the best players.
The complex would draw more fans and tax dollars to Mesa, Ricketts said. The team will make a major investment and become more active locally under the new ownership, he said.
“We look forward to becoming a more integral part of the Mesa community,” Ricketts said.
The Cubs are the most-attended team in the Cactus League, Ricketts noted, saying they led attendance in 13 of the last 15 years. The team’s economic impact to the state was estimated at $138 million, according to a city-commissioned study.
The new complex would boost the team’s drawing power, Ricketts said. The team already has players in Mesa year-round for training, and the entertainment complex will make the facility a year-round attraction for more people, Ricketts said. He hopes the new Wrigleyville West will capture the sentiment of Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
“Everyone knows that it’s a lot more than just gong to a baseball game,” he said. “Wrigley is a special place, it’s a magical place. It’s something that you just can’t describe because it has that special feel. We want to get some of that feel in our spring training. We want to get some of that destination kind of feel to our Mesa facility.”
votenomesa posted at 4:33 pm on Wed, Sep 22, 2010.
No $84 million giveaway to a billionaire baseball owner.
busdriningmom posted at 6:30 pm on Wed, Sep 22, 2010.
This is prop 420 because Brady and Mayor Smith are hoping Mesa voters are stoned enough to fund giving corporate welfare to people who have more money than god. And this for a team who couldn't win the World Series if they were playing unopposed.
p.s. 420 is a slang term for pot, therefore the stoned reference.
snipes posted at 8:45 pm on Wed, Sep 22, 2010.
"As part of the deal to have Waveyard share the space, the city dropped a requirement that the developer include a resort and 200,000 square feet of stores and restaurants. "
-----------------------------------
This con-job just gets worse.
When Mesa voters approved the original Waveyard con-job in 2007, part of the agreement was that Waveyard had to meet all sorts of requirements about the size and calibre of hotel as well as retail space and more.
So now, all by himself, Chity Manager Brady decides that Waveyard can be downsized to only 25 acres and forgo all the previous agreements?
Sheesh, they have already missed their first deadline by 9 months, and now it appears that most the stipulations weren't binding at all.
What's the point of having an agreement that isn't binding?
Better question, what's in the Cubs agreement that will be promptly ignored a day after the election?
MesaAZGuy posted at 9:32 pm on Wed, Sep 22, 2010.
There's Snipes as usual trying to throw doubt in like it's actually fact.
Waveyard won't get any incentives since they won't have any retail parts and they didn't live up to their agreement. It's like starting over from scratch.
Rich posted at 10:35 pm on Wed, Sep 22, 2010.
MesaAZGuy
They're going to open a free water park, give away free refreshments, and kayaks and surfboards? Or are they only going to sell to groups, wholesale?
There is only one real question here. Are the citizens of Mesa going to be that gullible, again?
mrfixer123 posted at 5:50 am on Thu, Sep 23, 2010.
This just just another slight of hand ripoff. I'd much prefer a nice 9 hole golf course on the site that can be used YEAR round. ........OH, WAIT, IT"S ALREADY THERE.
And by the way........No one has mentioned there are already two other water parks to the South and North of the proposed Waveyard.
1_lstephen posted at 6:08 am on Thu, Sep 23, 2010.
It's a grand slam investment. The city of Mesa proposition #420 to spend MORE than $1.5 million alongside an $84 million dollar project, that will inherit jobs, entertainment and revenue. The stadium owners (Rickett) will pay annual taxes and help Mesa's economy. To adjoining business outside and nearby the stadium, wherever the Cubs choose to build might also gain revenue by the Cubs attraction of Wrigley's West...sometimes we (Mesa) must spend money on good investments to help the growth of our City--especially in a time through economic recovery. Mesa needs to take a giant first step...I hope this will brighten our future...Go Cubs...This project is not a gamble...its a sure thing that will help our community.
Poorman posted at 7:44 am on Thu, Sep 23, 2010.
The City of Mesa has to try and save face over the Waveyard fiasco,as well as trying to keep the Cubs here. What a joke!
forkedlift1 posted at 11:58 am on Thu, Sep 23, 2010.
The Nov. 2 election is in less than six weeks with early voting beginning in a couple of weeks. So what's this about a Cubs Cactus League baseball complex combined with Waveyard (two commercial entities)? And what's this about the city manager suddenly saying,
"I’m hoping to have something next week and maybe in two or three weeks we can sit down with both sides and see if we can work this out.”
"Both sides"? There are no "both sides" as far as voters and taxpayers are affected.
The city's belated brainstorm not only took the Cubs' owner off-guard but was a surprise to Waveyard's Jerry Hug as well. It's a day late and a dollar short and is very likely unlawful.....at least for THIS election.
To date Waveyard has not met its legal, financial or contractual obligations and was granted an extension until next summer to do so. Period. And, surprise, Waveyard is not a Cactus League team.
It's bad enough that the ballot question is not site-specific. It's bad enough that it does not have a capped dollar amount "to construct or aid in the construction of a City-owned stadium, training, practice facility and related improvements for Cactus League Spring Training baseball."
But there is no doubt as to the sole purpose of the funding which Mesa voters are being asked to authorize. The purpose does not include another commercial entity coming in the back door to "share" any given land with the Cactus League facilities.
"Starting over from scratch" NOW (as one commenter was advocating) would fall into the category of voter fraud.
Geez, Mesa, don't foul things up with the Cubs and don't defraud voters.
Here's the ballot question for Mesa voters:
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE: Authorize the City to expend public funds, grant tax concessions or relief, or incur debt in an amount greater than $1.5 million, and/or grant City-owned land of a fair market value in excess of $1.5 million to construct or aid in the construction of a City-owned stadium, training, practice facility and related improvements for Cactus League Spring Training baseball.
A “YES” vote shall have the effect of approving public expenditures for the construction of a City-owned Cactus League Spring Training stadium and facilities.
A”NO” vote shall have the effect of disapproving public expenditures for the construction of a City-owned Cactus League Spring Training stadium and facilities.