Parking Fight Highlights Strain as Team Fears City Will Bungle Job
By David Nakamura and Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Washington Nationals ownership group fears that the District government is in danger of botching the construction of a new baseball stadium and has moved quickly to assert its influence on the $611 million publicly funded project.
After a series of meetings with D.C. officials, the family of Theodore N. Lerner has determined that the city is pursuing a strategy that could delay the ballpark's scheduled opening in April 2008, team president-to-be Stan Kasten said. That would harm the team's fortunes on the field and the city's effort to redevelop the neighborhood along the Anacostia River in Southeast, Kasten added.
"The only people who had ever built or operated a stadium, or built a building, were us," Kasten said of a recent meeting with city leaders. "And we are trying as hard as we can to help them avoid mistakes. . . . We need to have this project done on time. We need to have it done on budget. It needs not to be a massive construction zone when it opens."
In Atlanta, Kasten, longtime president of the Ted Turner-owned Braves and NBA Hawks, was the force behind stadiums for both teams -- Turner Field and Philips Arena, respectively.
The most contentious issue between the Lerners and D.C. officials is whether to build garages with 1,225 parking spaces aboveground or put them underground to make way for an entertainment district featuring shops, restaurants, condos and office space.
City leaders, hoping to maximize the potential tax revenue from development outside the stadium, are seeking underground parking garages, which are more costly and time-consuming to build.
The Lerners, who stand to profit from sales inside the ballpark, are pushing for aboveground garages to be sure spaces are available for luxury suite patrons and holders of high-priced tickets. The Lerners paid $450 million to buy the Nationals from Major League Baseball and could lose millions if the stadium and parking lots are not open on time.
Making the standoff more complicated is that the District leaders and government agencies involved in the project have failed to reach consensus on how to finance the underground parking structures and development above it. This has led to a growing uncertainty over who is in charge and has emboldened the Lerners to try to call the shots, some city leaders said.
"Right now there are too many voices, and getting one voice will be very difficult," said D.C. Council member Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), who represents the area where the stadium will be built. "I can't tell you how upset I am about this. I really think we could be squandering a good opportunity. My worst nightmare when I close my eyes is the vision of a stadium rising in a sea of parking lots."
In an effort to improve communication, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) recently created the Office of Baseball, which includes representatives from his administration, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., the D.C. Council and the Lerner group.
The new office is led by Stephen Goldsmith, a former mayor of Indianapolis who also chairs the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., chartered by Williams to oversee development along the river. Goldsmith and the developers that his organization has hired to work on the ballpark entertainment district have lobbied heavily for underground parking.
At a meeting last week, however, the Lerners firmly rejected Goldsmith's various compromise proposals. According to city officials, one proposal was to build two levels of parking underground and mask the remaining aboveground parking structures with condos and office space. Another was to build one taller parking structure aboveground instead of two smaller ones, which would leave some space for mixed-use development.
To the Lerners, the ideas lacked clarity and common sense. They say they believe that building offices and shops above parking garages would result in construction going on as fans entered the stadium during the first season and beyond, Kasten said. And if the city built one massive garage as high as 10 stories, he added, it would take motorists way too long to exit after a game.
"When things don't make sense to us, we try to explain why we think those things don't make sense," Kasten said. "The construction experts at our ownership group are trying to point things out that are absolutely critical to getting the goals met. We don't want anyone to make mistakes that will derail them."
Goldsmith and Williams were out of the country late last week and unavailable to comment. Earlier, Goldsmith had said he was still seeking a compromise by June 26, when the city faces a hearing on stadium parking before the D.C. Zoning Commission.
With no firm plans on the table, sports commission Chief Executive Allen Y. Lew, who is overseeing stadium construction, said he has had no choice but to pursue aboveground parking. Lew and his boss, commission Chairman Mark H. Tuohey, stressed that the District has a contract with Major League Baseball to provide the stadium and garages by 2008 or face significant financial penalties.
Underground parking garages are estimated to cost $50 million, Lew said, well more than the $21 million earmarked for garages in the council-approved stadium budget.
"We've listened to the view of the owners and . . . it's unlikely we will have full underground parking," Tuohey said. "The problem is that the underground parking issue is expensive and time-consuming."
But behind the scenes, private developers have tried to assure city leaders that money is available. In February, Goldsmith provided the D.C. Council with a letter signed by two major developers -- Thomas W. Henneberry of Forest City Washington and Herbert S. Miller of Western Development -- agreeing to pay the city up to $70 million in exchange for the right to develop on stadium land.
Miller, who helped develop the mix of stores, condos and offices at Gallery Place next to Verizon Center, said recently that he has lined up a major Japanese construction firm to guarantee that the underground parking lots would be completed by April 2008.
"There are several ways to provide great parking and access and not impinge on the development potential at the site," Miller said. "The Lerners just have to pick one. I don't know what is in their minds, but whatever it is they need, we can solve and make them happy."
Kasten has said the city and its developers failed to produce funding guarantees in time for a deadline last month set by the three construction companies that are building the stadium.
"The Lerners say, 'This sounds great, but show us your plan.' But guess what, we don't have one," said council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large). "All the developers say they have money, but where's the money?"
That's a question Ambrose said she intends to ask the Lerners, whom she expected to chip in money.
"Apparently, the Lerners aren't interested in anteing up at all, which is unfortunate," Ambrose said. "I thought that was the reason to have a local owner, so they would feel a sense of pride and a sense this could be a real legacy for them."
Kasten said the Lerners believe the stadium budget is sufficient and that the ballpark will bring new revenue that will build a more competitive ballclub. Only then, he added, will fans flock to the stadium, allowing development outside the ballpark to flourish.
"Nothing works if that first phase is messed up -- nothing," Kasten said. "And so that's why all of us need to put all of our attention into making sure that first phase works, which is a successful stadium that all of us can be proud of, that all of us want to attend games at, that draws 3 million people a year. If we achieve that, and I believe the Lerners can help achieve that, then everything else is possible. If we don't achieve that, then everything else fails."
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