Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News 1/29
By Jeff Schafer
Atlanta Braves Pick KC’s Populous To Build New Stadium
The Atlanta Braves have chosen an architect for the team’s new stadium in the city’s northwest suburbs.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the team chose Kansas City-based Populous, a firm which has designed 19 Major League Baseball stadiums.
Braves spokeswoman Beth Marshall said the team has selected Populous, though it is still in the contract negotiation stage and will need approval from Cobb County.
Last week, the team closed on land to build the $672 million ballpark in Cobb County.
The team hopes to open the stadium for the 2017 season.
Atlanta Braves must replace Hudson, Maholm in rotation
Braves closer Craig Kimbrel has played only three full seasons in the majors, and already his contemporaries are considered the veterans of the team.
That includes Atlanta’s rotation, where replacements must be found for departed veterans Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm. Hudson signed with the Giants and Maholm is a free agent.
The rotation returns Kris Medlen, Mike Minor, Julio Teheran and Brandon Beachy.
Kimbrel, 25, said it’s difficult for him to realize the young starters must now lead the rotation.
“Yeah, it’s kind of hard. Guys that I played minor league ball with are now the veterans of the ballclub,” Kimbrel said Monday, the first day of the Braves’ informal pitching camp. “It’s something that happened really fast and a lot of those guys are going to have to step into those shoes and win a lot of baseball games.”
Braves narrow field of mixed-use developers
The Atlanta Braves have made their first cuts to a roster of developers competing to build the $400 million to $600 million retail and entertainment district around a proposed Cobb County stadium.
The mixed-use project, which could feature the dazzle of similar sports-related developments including LA Live, an entertainment district by the Los Angeles Staples Center, might include dinner theater concepts such as CineBistro, sporting goods stores such as Gander Mountain and Cabela’s, brewhouses such as World of Beer, sports bars, chain restaurants.
The project would surround the more than $670 million Braves stadium planned in the Cobb Galleria area on the northwest side of the Atlanta Perimeter.
Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc., (NYSE: CUZ) the real estate development company whose founder Tom Cousins is one of the region’s most influential business leaders, is a finalist, according to people familiar with the process. The company can leverage those strong ties to the city and the region, and it’s known for mixed-use projects such as Terminus in Buckhead, among others. It’s also part of a private consortium that was already chosen to oversee planning for the redevelopment of downtown’s “Gulch,” a collection of blighted parking lots near CNN Center and Philips Arena.