New Baseball Cost Study Could Take Five Months

D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp, shown in 2003, proposed the second cost analysis, to be done by Natwar M. Gandhi, chief D.C. financial officer. (The Washington Post)

Green included no money specifically for infrastructure because he said the city does not have to expand Metro stations or improve roads under the stadium agreement. If District leaders decide to undertake a Metro expansion, for example, they could seek to share the cost with the federal government, Virginia, Maryland and even Major League Baseball, Green said.

Gandhi did not make a judgment in another key area: the city's estimate that it will cost $65 million to acquire the land. If property owners reject the District's purchase offers, the city can seize the properties through eminent domain. In that case, owners could ask a court to decide a fair price.

Green said he hired a real estate consultant to asses the land's value. The consultant factored in the zoning commission's plan to re-classify the area from industrial to commercial-retail-residential, possibly making it more valuable. The consultant also estimated the potential building density and predicted the land could cost $65 million. The most recent tax assessment of the 21 acres set the value between $30 million and $35 million, Gandhi said.

Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), who voted against the stadium plan, said the land could be worth $25 a square foot if the rezoning is approved, making the entire 21 acres potentially worth $165 million.

Jayne Shister, a senior vice president for Cassidy & Pinkard, said that predicting the price is difficult because owners will make the case that the land's value is rising because of the redevelopment beginning in the area.

"Land is valued not only for its zoning but its location," she said. "What has changed with the ballpark is that all the land surrounding it is worth more money because of the ballpark."

City officials noted that the council has been kept informed of the cost changes for the project.

Consultants hired by the city have revised the stadium's design since 2002, from a four-concourse layout, similar to Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards, to a three-concourse model. It combines the club seats and suite levels, making the stadium more intimate, Green said, which city officials prefer. The change also cut out 30,000 square feet, reducing costs, he said.

"We've sent all of this to council members several times," Green said. "They have everything we've done."