Atlanta Braves new spring facility green-lighted by State of Florida

Last week we were starting to get a bit nervous about the timeline on this project… not any more.

According to both a source contacting TomahawkTake with knowledge of the details and also confirmed here, a key part of the funding for the Atlanta Braves North Port, Florida facility-to-be has been approved, clearing the way for final local approval votes.

From the source’s press release, issued this morning:

"SARASOTA COUNTY – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity on Thursday conditionally approved $20 million in funding for the new Atlanta Braves spring training complex being developed in West Villages in North Port. Earlier this summer, The West Villages Improvement District, along with Sarasota County, the City of North Port and the Atlanta Braves, filed the grant application seeking funding to help with facility construction costs. This is the final piece of funding necessary to move the project forward. “We are pleased to have the state join the partnership of the city, county, West Villages Improvement District, Mattamy Homes and the Atlanta Braves to make this a reality,” said West Villages Improvement District Chairman Martin Black, AICP, ICMA-CM."

This means that the State of Florida will be committing $20 million to the cost of the project, estimated at $75-80 million. The rest of the funds will be coming from a variety of sources, including Sarasota County, North Port ($4.7 million), and the Braves – who are set to make annual payments for the duration of their 30-year lease arrangement.

A rendering of the proposed facility can be seen here…and if you look closely, the field shapes and wall heights on every field mimic those at SunTrust Park.

Last week, we noted in these pages of concerns (ours and others) that construction had not been started yet for the project, which is slated to open by February 2019.

Our estimate was that ground-breaking needed to happen by early November at the latest for that deadline to be reachable. All indications now are that this is a reachable goal, which should allow the Braves to begin wintering in SW Florida for the foreseeable future, starting in 2019.

So long, Mickey

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Now September 12th is the date. On that Tuesday, officials from North Port, Sarasota County, and the West Villages Improvement District will all hold meetings with this development high on their agenda. ‘Yes’ votes from all three bodies will be the signal that all approvals are complete and that construction may begin.

Given that all three groups have already given preliminary approvals that got us to this point, these final votes are expected to be mere formalities. The heavy lifting – other than the part reserved for the actual construction – has already been done.

So get ready to hear more about new-ish opponents for Spring games…. teams like the Pirates, Orioles, Red Sox, Twins, Rays, Blue Jays, and Phillies… with a lot less travel time involved.

Next: Hey Tony! Welcome back to the majors!

If I know the Braves, then might have that ground-breaking ceremony with the gold shovels scheduled for September 13th… with graders and backhoe idling in the background.

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