The D.C. Council has instructed the city's chief financial officer to reexamine his recent cost estimate for acquiring 14 acres for a baseball stadium, saying that the figures are inaccurate and that the bill could be much higher.
Natwar M. Gandhi's report, issued last week, said the city would have to pay $77.1 million to buy the land on the Anacostia waterfront in Southeast Washington, including legal fees and costs to relocate property owners.
Natwar M. Gandhi said the city would have to pay $77.1 million to buy 14 acres for a ballpark site.
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Land Costs: District Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi released his re-estimate of the cost to build a baseball stadium near the Anacostia waterfront.
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Some of the landowners have said they will seek more money than Gandhi estimated or go to court to block the city from buying or condemning the land.
The outcome of a battle over the land could vastly increase the public costs of the stadium, delaying the ballpark's opening or forcing the city to look for another site.
At a briefing this week, several council members challenged the estimates submitted by Gandhi and his consultants at Deloitte & Touche. David A. Catania (I-At Large) said his staff has found several examples of land near the stadium site that sold recently for much more per square foot than Gandhi estimated for the stadium land.
"If the CFO does his job right, this [land] will cost more, and we'll need to find another site that costs less," said Catania, who opposes public funding for a stadium.
"I have no idea where those numbers come from. They are way low, not even close," said M. Roy Goldberg, who represents owners of a trash transfer station that Gandhi estimated to be worth $7.1 million. "My understanding from the history of this property is that that is not even in the ballpark of what it's worth."
The D.C. Council approved a stadium financing package in December with the provision that the city would have to find an alternative location if Gandhi's study of land costs, environmental remediation and infrastructure were to exceed $165 million. Gandhi's total for those three categories was $161.4 million, so a slight increase in land costs could tip the price over the council's stadium cap.
Gandhi, who paid Deloitte $466,000, said he stands by the estimate. "We're quite confident of the numbers we have," Gandhi said. "But we'll look back and see if we made any major errors in our calculation. If so, we'll correct it."
The city has hired Maryland-based Lipman, Frizzell & Mitchell to conduct a separate assessment of the land costs. Officials will use that study to develop offers to buy the property. If the owners refuse to sell, the District intends to acquire the land under eminent domain and a court would decide the fair price.
Carol J. Mitten, director of the city's Office of Property Management, is overseeing the land acquisition process for the District. She said that she will use information from Gandhi's study if it is helpful, but she emphasized that the Lipman, Frizzell analysis is independent of that.
"We intend to share our analysis with property owners," Mitten said. "We are not trying to lowball them. We'll go to them and say, 'This is what the appraiser says the value of the property is,' and there will be some opportunity for discussion."
The 14 acres are divided into 63 lots involving 33 owners, individuals and companies. The city's goal is to own all the land by the end of the year to meet the construction timetable, which calls for the stadium to be completed by March 2008. The city owns roads and public alleys totaling six acres at the site.
Kenneth Wyban owns a five-bedroom house on N Street SE in the proposed stadium footprint that Gandhi estimated is worth $696,000. Wyban, who is retired, bought the house eight years ago and has been renovating it to use as a bed and breakfast. It has a view of the Capitol from a bedroom window. He recently finished work on a two-bedroom apartment in the basement.
When representatives from Lipman, Frizzell and the city government recently came to inspect his property, Wyban said he asked them where he could buy a similar house. They referred him to an address in Anacostia, but he was not impressed.
"No matter what I pay, I can't buy anything comparable to what I have here," Wyban said. "Seven hundred thousand dollars sounds impressive, but my real estate agent told me four years ago my place was worth $600,000, so I think it's gone up a lot more since then."
Gandhi said that Deloitte analysts studied recent sales near the ballpark site, comparable values in similar areas in the District and other cities, and potential revenue that landowners can get over the next three years if they rent their property.
Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), the council's most ardent ballpark supporter, said he believes some colleagues are challenging Gandhi's numbers solely because they are trying to stop the stadium construction.
"A majority of the city council would be thrilled if the stadium did not happen and will work very hard to make sure the city does not get the land so this ties us up and sinks the deal," Evans said.
But Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) said he questioned Gandhi's numbers because "if you tell me the cost is $77 million and the true cost becomes $140 million in the end, where are those additional dollars going to come from?"
