City Council to vote on WooSox tax financing
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A rendering of a $240 million development including anchored by Polar Park, the future home of the Worcester Red Sox.
With a strict timeline to adhere to, the Worcester City Council is being asked Tuesday to approve a district improvement financing plan for the mostly vacant land at the site of the future Polar Park, currently valued at just over $10 million.
The city hopes tax revenues generated from the 28.6 acres of land will be enough to pay off its $70.6 million in debt of the $101 million it is borrowing to fund the construction of the ballpark for the new home of the Pawtucket Red Sox on the former Wyman-Gordon property.
The team is expected to pitch in $6 million in equity and about $30 million over a 30-year lease on the new stadium to help pay back the city’s debt.
The property includes 16 parcels to be the site of a $240-million overall project that includes the ballpark, a parking garage, hotels, residential developments and other private investments from Boston-based Madison Properties.
The city is projecting to cover its debt service and then some, estimating a surplus of $741,440 to start in 2022. That surplus is expected to fade to as low as $73,496 in 2024 but pick up significantly in later years of the deal.
According to correspondence between Chief Development Office Michael Traynor, City Manager Edward Augustus and the City Council, the DIF must be in place before bonds can be issued.
Per an agreement between the team and city, construction on the ballpark must begin next July and the 10,000-seat stadium must be ready in time for the 2021 baseball season.
“To maintain fidelity to the terms of the Letter of Intent previously transmitted to council on Aug. 21, 2018, time is of the essence to establish the DIF District/Program,” Traynor wrote in correspondence to Augustus.
The state is pitching in $32.5 million over the next three years to fund a Worcester-owned 400-space parking garage and other infrastructure improvements. A state-funded complete redesign of Kelley Square is also in the works.
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