Palm Beach County Hits the Big Leagues for Spring Training

佛罗里达州棕榈滩县正在进入春季训练棒球的主要球员，西棕榈滩的新增棕榈海滩的新增3.5亿个体育场，该棕榈岛下赛季为华盛顿国民和休斯顿天星开放。

这意味着该县现在将举办四支春季培训团队，仅次于亚利桑那州马里科帕县。迈阿密马林斯和圣路易斯黑主教已经在木星训练，距西棕榈滩19英里。国民和天星以前在佛罗里达州的其他地方。亚特兰大勇士队还考虑在奥兰多附近的基西默的目前的春季训练设施中搬到附近的湖泊。

The stadium, the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, is on track to generate more than $158 million a year for the West Palm Beach economy, according to a study by Tourism Economics for the Nationals and Astros. It estimates the project will generate $58 million in total personal income and more than 1,200 annualized full-time-equivalent jobs. The project is seen as generating $6 million in state and local taxes. Analysts say economic impact studies for stadiums should be taken with a large grain of salt, however.

“It’s another piece of the puzzle that enhances the experience of visiting Palm Beach County,” says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina. “By itself, the impact isn’t big. But when you couple it with all the other things to do, it’s a nice complement.”

The stadiums are financed by teams and municipalities that have an interest in getting the facilities built. It’s difficult to know, however, how much of the spending attributed to the stadium would have taken place without it.

棕榈滩县正在为新体育场提供30200万美元的新体育场，其中30年债券：6540万美元的征税和5660万美元的免税。该县计划与旅游税偿还债务，从国家销售税收5000万美元，并租用团队的付款。穆迪的投资者服务汇率债券AA1，而惠誉评级和标准差价率为AA-Plus。所有三家机构都率加率县一般义务债券三倍-A。

As for tourism and hospitality dollars, in 2014 the Marlins’ and Cardinals’ spring training stays at Roger Dean Stadium, the facility in Jupiter, generated 23,000 hotel room nights just for players and team staff, says Glenn Jergensen, executive director of the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council. Fans from St. Louis are particularly conspicuous, turning the stadium red with their Cardinals apparel during the March games.

然而，棒球本身并不是体育馆收入的可持续发展司机。春季培训持续了两个月：2月和3月。Jergensen说，新体育场可用于小联盟棒球和业余棒球锦标赛。但这些不是主要的钱制造商。县官员也在考虑其他活动，如音乐会。如果他们在佛罗里达州达韦岛东南大学的经济学教授，威廉·斯坦特表示，体育馆将成为奥运会的可能性。

The stadium also may be important in keeping the Marlins and Cardinals in Jupiter, since it gives them two opponents conveniently just 20 minutes away. In recent years, several teams with spring training facilities in Florida have fled to Arizona, which a number of teams call home in the spring.

Aside from the rabid Cardinals fans, it’s unclear how many people spring training attracts. “It’s hard to argue that it’s the main draw,” says Stronge. “It adds to the experience of people here, and if you don’t have enhancements, you won’t get them. But it’s hard to tell which enhancements are critical.”

The stadium could give a small lift to thePalm Beach County real estate market, which is already sizzling, analysts say. “It can only be positive,” says Jeff Greene, a real estate investor who has bought about $300 million worth of property in West Palm Beach. The baseball complex will occupy 160 acres that were previously dormant, he notes. And the project may help entice more people to live here, Greene and others say, though the number won’t be large.

在西棕榈滩的商业房地产服务公司Nai / Merin亨特密码委员会董事长Neil Merin表示，该地区的新住宅开发有很多住房。该地区的大多数商业房地产由仓库组成，因此不太可能有利。梅林说：“鉴于春季训练季节短的长度，”你不会看到只是为了服务体育场而建造的商业房地产，“Merin说。

In investor Greene’s eyes, the new stadium, along with the planned renovation of West Palm’s world-class Norton Museum of Art and the real estate boom, is “part of a bigger story — that West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County have arrived.”