Blue Marble Strategic

Extra innings for Wesley Chapel baseball park?

December 11, 2014 By Michael Hinman

An ambitious plan to bring a major youth-oriented baseball complex to the Wiregrass Ranch area of Wesley Chapel might be coming apart. Yet, the developers of the plan aren’t giving up, and are even willing to continue on without $11 million in funding from Pasco County.

Pasco Sports LLC, a partnership between Blue Marble Strategic’s James Talton and retired Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield, missed a deadline to file a financial plan with Pasco County officials Friday, a little more than a week after county commissioners gave them more time to get money together.

Major League Baseball star and Tampa native Gary Sheffield talks to some representatives of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel after a September meeting with the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. Sheffield and development partner James Talton have a new plan to bring a youth baseball complex to Pasco County. (File Photo)

“I am very disappointed that they were unable to obtain the financing by today’s deadline,” Pasco County administrator Michele Baker said last week in a statement. “However, we still believe very strongly in the concept. Youth sports are an important component of our tourism plan, and the Wiregrass location is geographically well positioned for the region. We look forward to continued dialogue with interested parties in order to bring a sports complex like this to Pasco County.”

Pasco Sports was looking to get $11 million in county tourism funding to help construct the project, along with $23 million of its own money. However, getting a financial backer to front the private side of the deal has been problematic for Talton and Sheffield in recent weeks, forcing some scale-back from what was originally a $70 million project.

The key to the deal, at least in the eyes of the Pasco County commission, was a $3 million pledge to guarantee loans on the project, something Sheffield told commissioners just before Thanksgiving that he would be willing to front himself, if need be.

“In our minds, this is just another step in the process, and we have every intention of getting this project completed,” Talton told The Laker/Lutz News in an email over the weekend.

The commission, based on what Ted Schrader told Talton and Sheffield at the pre-Thanksgiving meeting, is expected to terminate the agreement it has with Pasco Sports at its next meeting in January. Talton, however, said that’s exactly what he now wants to happen.

“The current agreement is being terminated,” he said. “I literally cannot work based on the current financing environment. We will negotiate new terms and have financing in place upon execution so we can move forward immediately.”

In fact, Talton said the county would no longer be asked to invest $11 million into the project, as long as it releases Pasco Sports from its obligation to pay fixed and contingent county revenue, as well as the company’s obligation to secure funding by a specific date and at a specific amount. Talton shared this in a letter to Pasco County administrator Michele Baker Nov. 25.

The county, however, would still be responsible for funding and construction of the connector road between Wiregrass Ranch Road and the park, Talton said. While Pasco would save the $11 million, it would not receive a piece of the revenue generated by the sports park when it goes into operation under this revised plan.

Commissioners wanted to make a final decision on the $11 million investment at its January meeting, but in order to do that, the developers needed to have paperwork submitted by the end of the day Dec. 5. That would then give county officials time to review the paperwork before it was presented to commissioners.

Published December 10, 2014

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Baseball complex in jeopardy? Developer misses deadline

December 5, 2014 By Michael Hinman

An ambitious plan to bring a major youth-oriented baseball complex to the Wiregrass Ranch area of Wesley Chapel might be coming apart.

“I am very disappointed that they were unable to obtain the financing by today’s deadline,” Pasco County administrator Michele Baker said, in a statement. “However, we still believe very strongly in the concept. Youth sports are an important component of our tourism plan, and the Wiregrass location is geographically well positioned for the region. We look forward to continued dialogue with interested parties in order to bring a sports complex like this to Pasco County.”

Pasco Sports was looking to get $11 million in county funding to help construct the project, along with $23 million of its own money. However, getting a financial backer to front the private side of the deal has been problematic for Talton and Sheffield in recent weeks, which initially was a $70 million project.

The cost and scope of the project was reduced in recent weeks while Pasco Sports tried to bring in financing.

The key to the deal was a $3 million pledge to guarantee loans on the project, something Sheffield told commissioners just before Thanksgiving that he would be willing to front himself if need be.

“I talked to my bankers, and at the end of the day when all this is said and done, if nobody comes in and does this, I’m going to use $3 million myself to take care of that note,” Sheffield said at the time.

It’s unclear whether Sheffield was still pledging that amount, or if it was enough to help Pasco Sports meet the deadline. Talton, however, told The Laker/Lutz News in an email Saturday that he’s not giving up.

“We have to go through this process in order to structure a deal that will work for our lenders and investors,” Talton said. “In our minds, this is just another step in the process, and we have every intention of getting this project completed.”

Talton told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce last October that his project — consisting of 19 baseball fields, dormitories and other sports-related amenities — could create an estimated 8,000 jobs and a $318 million annual economic impact boost to the county. Even the $11 million Pasco is investing would come back quickly, he said, as the project is estimated to pay the county $9 million in taxes and other costs.

Getting more time seems unlikely, at least based on what commissioners told Talton and Sheffield last month in Dade City. New commission chair Ted Schrader said there would be no more deadline extensions.

Story updated 12/6/14 at 11:42 a.m., to include comments from James Talton.

Both want jobs, but disagree on how to get them

October 9, 2014 By Michael Hinman

One of the biggest challenges facing the Pasco County Commission in recent years is how to create more jobs here, and not force nearly half the population to travel elsewhere to find work.

It’s likely a problem that won’t be fixed over the next four years, but that hasn’t stopped the two candidates looking for a seat on the commission to share their ideas on how it might happen. They are just quite different.

Mike Moore, left, and Erika Remsberg both want to succeed Pat Mulieri on the Pasco County Commission. Moore has raised nearly $132,000 in his effort, while Remsberg, who has raised slightly more $7,700, wants to be the first Democrat on the commission since 2010. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

Mike Moore and Erika Remsberg both want to succeed the retiring Pat Mulieri on the commission, and both believe it’s jobs and growth that will finally put them on the dais.

“Penny for Pasco is giving us $45 million for economic development, and those dollars need to be put to work,” Moore said during a recent candidate forum at Lexington Oaks in Wesley Chapel. “I know the (Pasco Economic Development Council) has some ideas on how to put those dollars to work, and I have some of my own ideas.”

The Pasco EDC has long taken a position of working to attract big employers to the county, competing with Hillsborough, Pinellas and even Polk counties, to get companies here. Earlier this year, Pasco EDC president and chief executive John Hagen suggested using some Penny for Pasco money to assemble chunks of land and make it ready for a large employer.

Companies like Amazon and Bristol-Myers Squibb could have brought many high-paying jobs to the county if they had chosen Pasco over Hillsborough, Moore suggested.

“We need to incentivize those companies to come into the area,” he said. “When you bring in large companies, that helps some of the smaller businesses, too. You’re going to have more people eating at restaurants, and they will have the money to buy goods at mom and pop stores. We need to keep the economic engine going.”

But the county has had little luck in bringing those companies here, Remsberg said. Instead, millions of taxpayer dollars have been put aside for companies like T. Rowe Price, who was supposed to bring 1,600 jobs on the promise of a $30 million commitment from the county, only to change its mind a few years later.

“It’s very expensive to do that, and more often than not, the projects do not work out,” Remsberg said. “It’s an expensive gamble that we should not be taking and using the minimal dollars we already have.”

Instead, Remsberg suggests the county take cues from the Pasco EDC and the communities of Dade City and New Port Richey to fund more small business incubators. Facilities like the one at the Dade City Business Center provide low-cost commercial space for upstarts, as well as advisory help from business experts to help those companies become profitable.

“They are resource centers for these small businesses, and they have training available to help make these businesses successful,” she said. “We should be taking these Penny for Pasco dollars and investing them in provable strategies that we know work here, and which will benefit Pasco residents.”

Because of his own background starting and running companies, Moore said he’s perfect to talk to chief executives of larger companies, and promoting the county to them. Pasco’s push to bring tourism-related amenities like the proposed 20-field baseball complex by Blue Marble Strategic in Wesley Chapel will make it easier to sing those praises.

“We need to gamble, we need to show them our area and how all these people are excited about it,” Moore said. “We want to create lots of opportunities for people who want to come here.”

But the work to wine and dine executives, and to compete with neighboring counties, carries a hefty price tag, Remsberg said.

“The consulting fee alone could’ve helped Meals on Wheels feed the 200 homebound elderly people who are going without food right now,” she said. “We need a steady stream of qualified workers, and we need comprehensive public transportation so that we are able to move those people around.”

Voters will decide between Moore and Remsberg Nov. 4.

Published October 8, 2014

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Proposed baseball complex could bring in sport’s biggest names

October 2, 2014 By Michael Hinman

Has Gary Sheffield done something the late Hugh Culverhouse never could?

The retired Major League Baseball star is excited about working with James Talton and Blue Marble Strategic in bringing a massive youth baseball complex to Wesley Chapel. But he is looking to bring in other big names too — especially those already associated with youth baseball — like former National Football League and professional baseball star Bo Jackson.

James Talton, the owner of Blue Marble Strategic, talks about his company’s idea to build a youth baseball complex in Wesley Chapel, while partner and retired Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield listens in. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo) — James Talton, the owner of Blue Marble Strategic, talks about his company’s idea to build a youth baseball complex in Wesley Chapel, while partner and retired Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield listens in.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

The Culverhouse-owned Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Jackson, the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, in 1986. But after a trip on Culverhouse’s private jet forced him to forfeit the rest of his collegiate baseball career, Jackson vowed he would never play a single down for the Buccaneers, and refused to sign when the team drafted him.

But 28 years later, Jackson could end up in the Tampa Bay area after all, as one of several sports stars participating in Blue Marble’s proposed 20-field complex at Wiregrass Ranch.

“Bo Jackson wants to be involved,” Sheffield told business leaders at a recent economic development event of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. “I just saw him two days ago, and they came down and met with us. All ex-athletes want to do is give back to kids.”

Jackson, who runs his own baseball program in Chicago, was one of several names Sheffield mentioned as interested in participating in some way or another at the $70 million complex, that will be built in part using $11 million in Pasco County tourist tax money. Another one tied to youth sports is former Baltimore Orioles shortstop and third basemen Cal Ripken, whose youth baseball program also has become quite popular in various parts of the country.

“It won’t be a Cal Ripken facility, or a Bo Jackson facility, but we can always integrate all of those things into what we’re doing,” Sheffield said. “What it does is give us the ability to probably have 20 to 30 MLB players that (at) any one time your kid might bump into, and that ups the brand.”

Talton wants to fill Pasco with 20 diamonds — baseball diamonds, that is. Many will have dimensions similar to Major League Baseball, but would include smaller fields as well for younger players. He wants to target teenagers, tapping into an amateur sports camp industry he says is currently worth $7 billion.

“We could make between $18 million and $20 million, and that’s just in the summertime alone,” Talton said. “If we took the 13- or 14-year-olds, and we did nothing else, I could pay down my debt service of $54 million.”

Several investors are ready to sign on the dotted line to fund the project, Talton said, but only after the county guarantees it will spend $11 million in collected tourist tax money from local hotels to help balance out some of the costs.

The return for the county could be extraordinary, according to Talton’s estimates. That includes the creation of an estimated 8,000 jobs, a $318 million annual economic impact boost to the county, and even $9 million in direct revenue from taxes and other costs, that would go directly back to the county.

“We’re already thinking we can make $53 million in revenue each year, and $16 million in net profit,” Talton said.

The more than 100 acres needed to construct the facility, not far from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, would cost about $5 million, Talton said. And it could create Wesley Chapel into a major destination, especially for families looking to spend the money they need to help their kids play better baseball.

The facility could have other benefits as well. Besides possibly expanding to include a small stadium to attract a Major League Baseball team for spring training, the new baseball complex would need plenty of nearby amenities, including hotels and restaurants — providing even more economic opportunities in the area.

“We don’t want this facility sitting out here by itself,” he said. “We don’t want people rushing to Busch Gardens or to Tampa because there is nothing here. We need to see this kind of growth in the immediate area.”

But a grand opening is still some time down the road. Talton has until next week to secure his overall financing, but then he’ll have to work with the county through the land development and permitting stage. If everything stays on schedule, the complex could be open to its first ballplayers in January 2017.

“We can’t predict how big this is going to be,” Sheffield said. “And I think it’s going to be 10 times bigger than what James is putting to paper right now.”

The county has essentially committed $11 million to the project, but Talton says some language in its legal documents need to be cleared up, so that the final amount doesn’t come in below $11 million.

Could the Atlanta Braves someday call Wesley Chapel its home? Click here to find out.

Published October 1, 2014

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Sheffield pitching Wesley Chapel to the Atlanta Braves

September 25, 2014 By Michael Hinman

The Atlanta Braves aren’t making a trip to the postseason this year, but could they instead be planning a trip to Pasco County in a few years? Like for spring training?

Retired Major League Baseball player Gary Sheffield, left, listens as Blue Marble Strategies owner John Talton shares his vision of a new 20-field baseball complex in Wesley Chapel's Wiregrass Ranch area. (Photo by Michael Hinman) — Retired Major League Baseball player Gary Sheffield, left, listens as Blue Marble Strategies owner James Talton shares his vision of a new 20-field baseball complex in Wesley Chapel’s Wiregrass Ranch area. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Gary Sheffield, the retired Major League Baseball star who hit 64 home runs when he played two seasons for the Braves more than a decade ago, believes his old team will come. And if not them, maybe the Houston Astros or Toronto Blue Jays — both which have expressed interest in looking for new spring training homes — instead.

Regardless, the former outfielder says the proposed $70 million baseball complex planned on 100 acres in the Wiregrass Ranch area will be so attractive, it would be impossible for any Major League team to turn it down.

“They don’t want to be second to Disney,” Sheffield told a group of business leaders recently at a Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce economic development meeting. “The problem they are having is that the fans coming to the games there are not Braves fans. They are there for Disney, and that is a problem for them.”

The Braves have played spring training at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Disney World in Orlando since 1998, but have been unofficially considering other options in recent months since their lease there is set to expire in 2017.

Wesley Chapel could be perfect for the team, Sheffield says, since many might consider the Interstate 75 trip between there and Atlanta a straight shot. It also makes sense as a second home for the team without making it inconvenient for its fan base.

“That is an easy commute for them,” Sheffield said. “All those fans could come straight here, plus go to other places like Disney and Clearwater Beach, since they would be close by. That is a possibility that is pretty much there for the taking.”

The sports complex was proposed by James Talton, owner of Blue Marble Strategic, and would supply 20 baseball and multipurpose athletic fields, as well as dormitories for players and other amenities. It’s a way to tap into the lucrative youth baseball market, he said.

Talton is raising $54 million in private funding, and looking for $11 million from Pasco County tourist tax money, to make such a project a reality.

Even without a major stadium component, Talton feels his sports complex could play a role in creating 8,000 jobs in the county, and produce $318 million in annual economic impact, as well as a direct revenue stream of $9 million each year to the county government. But if the project could attract a Major League team, there’s no telling how big of an impact that would have in the Wesley Chapel area, Talton said.

Creating a separate field for spring training would not be anywhere near the headache the Tampa Bay Rays are experiencing with its efforts to get out of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. In fact, spring training fields are typically much smaller than regular season venues, Talton said, where average attendance usually holds around 6,700.

“We would want to put in up to 12,000 seats, but that could be a little ambitious,” he said. “A lot of what we hear from the league is that they want to have no more than 8,000 seats, because they want to make sure they are filled.”

Yet, just from his own youth baseball operations, Talton believes he can fill 3,000 of those seats with his players and families that might be using the rest of the facility during spring training time. He wants to be open for business by January 2017, which would be just ahead of when the Braves’ lease with Disney expires.

But are the Braves even looking to stay in this part of the state? Braves president John Schuerholz told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March that staying in Central Florida could be tough.

Many teams that used to participate in spring training are looking for other parts of the state, especially south, and it could be tough for Atlanta to travel around if its only nearby opponent is the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland.

The Braves want to stay in Florida, however, and have waved off any suggestions the team could move to the other popular spring training state of Arizona. But if the Astros move out of Kissimmee, and the Washington Nationals leave their home in Viera, that could leave the Atlanta team rather isolated in Lake Buena Vista.

Yet moving to Wesley Chapel could be a good move in that respect. The Tigers would still be available in Lakeland, joining five other teams in quick driving distance — the New York Yankees in Tampa, the Blue Jays in Dunedin, the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, and the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota.

The Braves also would be a lot closer to the Tampa Bay Rays, who play its spring training games in Port Charlotte.

A request to the Braves for comment is still pending.

Sheffield, who was born and raised in Tampa, says he has been spending a lot of time in Pasco County, especially since his kids are members of the Pasco Predators youth athletic teams. Once tourists start discovering the area, they won’t be able to stay away.

“There is something about Tampa and Pasco County,” he said. “People can’t leave. They can’t leave the water, or the beautiful places here. It’s totally community-driven.”