Baseball Stadium Still Shows Up in the 'Win' Column

If people are worried about cost overruns, it is possible to contract with a construction management firm that, for a fee, would assume the risk of cost overruns. The current financing plan already includes a contingency fund equal to 10 percent of the construction cost, which could be used to buy just such an insurance policy.

Furthermore, Gandhi has identified and certified nearly $100 million in "other" revenue sources from the baseball initiative that has not been spoken for and would cover the higher costs that have received so much attention. They include interest earned on the bond proceeds before they are spent, the $37 million earned from last year's Nationals season and the $20 million that MLB recently agreed to throw into the stadium financing pot.

Gandhi's analysis also shows that while the annual carrying costs for the stadium bonds would be $38 million, the revenue stream from stadium-related rent and taxes would be $58 million. Wall Street underwriters insist on that $20 million cushion. Assuming the full $58 million is raised as expected, several hundred million dollars would be returned at some point for whatever use the city decides.

Many D.C. Council members who oppose the stadium on financial grounds are hardly known for their fiscal rectitude or abiding distaste for government intervention in a free-market economy. What really galls them, it seems, is the symbolism of a project that would line the pockets of rich team owners and players and be used disproportionately by middle- and upper-class white residents of Northwest Washington and the suburbs.

But at this point, we need to get beyond the symbolism. A city-financed baseball stadium is not, nor will it ever be, the reason why D.C. schools are failing poor black kids or why so many residents receive inadequate health care. Nor will it ever be the answer to those problems.

As a hard-nosed business proposition, however, the stadium is a reasonable investment in the city's economic development with a return that easily justifies its manageable risks.

Steven Pearlstein can be reached atpearlsteins@washpost.com.

As a hard-nosed business proposition, the stadium is a reasonable investment in the city's economic development with a return that easily justifies its manageable risks.