“Richmond will finally be getting the ballpark it truly deserves, and we could not be more relieved and gratified,” said Flying Squirrels President Lou DiBella.

Excerpts from the article:

The City of Richmond announced on Monday that the Double-A baseball team and the Richmond Economic Development have formally signed the lease and development agreement for a new $117 million stadium to be built just south of The Diamond as the anchor of the overall Diamond District development.

[…]

The signed documents include the Squirrels agreeing to a 30-year lease of the 10,000-seat stadium, which will be owned the EDA, managed and operated by the team, and paid for by bonds issued last month by the city.

[…]

The lease calls for the Squirrels to pay $3.2 million in rent annually for the first 10 years of the 30-year agreement. The rent will then drop to $1.34 million for the 11th year and rise 3% each year thereafter. That equates to $66 million paid by the Squirrels over the life of the lease.

Virginia Commonwealth University will also pay a yet-undisclosed amount of rent to the EDA for its baseball team’s use of the new stadium.

Those rents will be used to pay off $40 million in lease revenue bonds that are funding infrastructure improvements for the Thalhimer-led first phase of the overall Diamond District development. The stadium is to be financed using $130 million in general obligation bonds, which are to be paid back using tax revenue generated by the overall 67-acre, $2.4 billion project.

[…]

Monday’s announcement said the stadium is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2026 baseball season.

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