Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: The Point of Must Return

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Mar 8, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Disney /

Atlanta Braves hire consultants to price North Port spring training facility

ZACK MURDOCK / (SARASOTA) HERALDTRIBUNE.COM

The Atlanta Braves have hired local design and construction consultants to help firm up plans for a proposed new spring training center in North Port.

More from Tomahawk Take

But neither the team nor Sarasota County are ready to consider a formal deal to bring the team to a planned town center development at the West Villages commercial district near U.S. 41 and River Road, according to a letter from Braves vice chairman John Schuerholz to Sarasota County Administrator Tom Harmer.

“While we have made a lot of progress to date, all parties have recognized that, among other issues, there remains the need for continued dialogue and discussion regarding the proposed financial terms of any potential deal including the proposed cost of the facility,” Schuerholz wrote in the letter, delivered late Thursday.

Those designs and more concrete cost estimates should eventually become a formal proposal for the estimated $100 million complex with a 7,500-seat stadium, practice fields and facilities on 100 to 150 acres next to the State College of Florida campus there.

The team has been negotiating privately with Sarasota and Palm Beach county leaders since March.

Despite initial indications that negotiations needed to be speedy, details on Sarasota County and Palm Beach talks have been scarce over the past two months. Local and team leaders declined to comment on the status of possible negotiations with Palm Beach County leaders.

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[ Ed. Note: and that’s the rub… not speedy enough. Yesterday, this news broke:

#Braves push back targeted spring-training site, won't move from Disney before 2019 https://t.co/GYH4qOG6gp
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) June 14, 2016

The entire frenzy of pushing for a new Spring home was centered around February 2018. The problem was that starting the process in late 2015/early 2016 was not going to work, as local governments tend to work in glacial time scales (which frankly makes the Cobb County/SunTrust Park deal look breathtakingly quick by comparison).

On top of that, the Braves’ first foray in this arena was derailed by major league baseball as they perceived it to be detrimental to the hometown Rays. That move alone killed at least six months in terms of time and energy.

So at this point, with the “no go for 2018” decision made, the Braves now have the opportunity to go back to more communities and see if they would be interested in a helping Atlanta with a 2019 solution.

Next: Location, Location, Location

Meanwhile, it’s going to mean very long Spring road trips for at least 2 more years. ]

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