When to leave?
The Atlanta Braves broke ground Tuesday on their new Cobb County stadium that is slated to be ready by opening day 2017. Until then, the Braves are still tenants of Turner Field. The City of Atlanta and the Braves have been negotiating the team’s exit from Turner Field on a lease that expires in 2016. Mayor Kasim Reed says the Braves have been holding up the city’s effort to sell Turner Field by not making clear when the team will vacate the property. The Braves say the city has yet to engage the team in meaningful negotiations. What’s more, the team has until 2016 to legally declare its intentions. Below is the two sides’ take on the status of those discussions. The statements have been published with minor edits for clarity.
From Mayor Kasim Reed on Tuesday:
“I was thrilled with the announcement of SunTrust Park. Now that they’ve announced at the ground-breaking … I would like to get a deal on the Braves’ departure so we can sell the facility and have those financial resources (to keep the Hawks). We have hosted the Braves for 49 years. I don’t think it’s being unreasonable to ask for negotiating an exit in an expeditious fashion. I’ve written a letter that was polite and courteous. I’ve asked my staff to meet with them. For some reason we can’t get an honest answer on a departure date. This series of events makes that more important because we’ve had multiple offers to buy the Turner Field property, which could be used to address (giving public assistance to the Hawks) without adding a burden to tax payers.
And in response to a reporter’s question:
They didn’t respond with a counter-offer. They did that for their press event. The ball is not in my court. I have the letter that I sent to the Braves. And I know that my team has met with Mike Plant. And if that is true, ask them to show you the documents. If there is a counter-offer to the letter that I wrote, why wouldn’t you be able to provide it? Because it doesn’t exist. The reason that was said was because they knew I was going to have this press event today.
All I’m asking is that after 49 years, to get together and reason and give us a date for an exit. So, I’m not trying to hold you for five years. … So why are we being held in this position? … I called John Schuerholz, the president of the Braves, and asked for a meeting and I think he gave me a meeting six to nine weeks away. So, the bottom line is we have business related to the Hawks. I have stood in this room. I have wished them well. And the only thing that I’ve asked for is…’You have announced that you are going to move in 2017. Why not move?’”
From Braves spokeswoman Beth Marshall on Tuesday:
“On Aug. 6, representatives from the Braves met with Mike Geisler, the COO of the City of Atlanta, and expressed to him our desire to work with the city and accelerate the departure date notification period as outlined in our current Turner Field lease. During that meeting, we provided an update on our current status and shared our perspective on how to best determine a departure date that worked for both sides. We asked that Mr. Geisler share these thoughts and views with the mayor and respond so we can continue to work together for a solution that fits all parties.
To be clear, since that meeting on Aug. 6, we have not received any communication from the mayor or anyone in his office pertaining to this matter. We have not received an offer letter from the mayor, and the only correspondence we have from him was the cordial letter we received on July 1 requesting that we begin negotiations as soon as possible. In agreement with him, we responded to that letter on July 8 and set up the aforementioned Aug. 6 meeting.
Having not received an offer letter, it is not possible for there to be any counter-offer from the Braves organization as we (are) still awaiting the city’s response from the Aug. 6 meeting.
As has been made public before, the Braves are not contractually bound to notify the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority of our plans until Dec. 31, 2015, however it is our hope to be able to work with them, the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, on negotiating an exit so they can best prepare for the future of the Turner Field site.
Regarding the mayor’s comments on this subject being brought up today, we were asked at our event earlier today about the status of the negotiations and responded to the reporter’s question. We were not aware of any press conference the mayor had scheduled today, as we were very busy with the groundbreaking of SunTrust Park.
We look forward to receiving his letter so we can continue our conversation.”
The dirt hadn’t yet settled Tuesday at a groundbreaking of the Atlanta Braves’ “SunTrust Park” in Cobb County when Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed uncorked plans of his own — finding a new owner for the embattled Atlanta Hawks.
In a hastily called meeting with reporters, Reed pledged to keep the NBA team — rocked by recent racially-charged controversy — inside the city limits. But in doing so, he ratcheted up the ongoing drama between his office and the Braves by linking the city’s ability to keep the Hawks in Atlanta with the uncertainty of when the baseball club will exit Turner Field.
In remarks certain to steal some of the Braves thunder, Reed said finding a new controlling owner for the Hawks could require financial help from the city. Selling Turner Field, Reed says, could provide those funds.
But Reed said the city can’t easily sell the 77-acre site to developers without knowing when the Braves plan to vacate The Ted. Fulton County leaders must also approve any land sale.
Per their contract, the Braves have until the end of 2015 to notify the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority whether the team wants a five-year lease extension.
“We have hosted the Braves for 49 years. I don’t think it’s being unreasonable to ask for negotiating an exit in an expeditious fashion,” Reed said on Tuesday. “…For some reason we can’t get an honest answer on a departure date. This series of events makes that more important because we’ve had multiple offers to buy the Turner Field property, which could be used to address this situation without adding a burden to taxpayers.”
In late June, Reed and recreation authority chairman James Hughes sent Braves executives a letter requesting an exit date.
The team replied that Braves President John Schuerholz would speak with city leaders and ultimately had a meeting in early August, team spokeswoman Beth Marshall said. The Braves are waiting to hear back from the city following that meeting, she said.
“As has been made public before, the Braves are not contractually bound to notify the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority of our plans until Dec. 31, 2015,” she said. “However it is our hope to be able to work with them, the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, on negotiating an exit so they can best prepare for the future of the Turner Field site.”
Relations between the Braves and Reed have been tepid at best since the team’s stunning announcement last fall to relocate to Cobb County by 2017.
In the months since, the mayor has worked to secure a future for the downtown land and has even voiced support for a $300 million proposal by Georgia State University and a team of developers to build a university sports complex and mixed-use development.
Reed used Tuesday’s press conference to allay fears of the Hawks leaving town, but he also seized the controversy as an opportunity to pressure the Braves to make their plans known.
Reed said he called a press conference Tuesday — the same day as the Braves groundbreaking — because he was traveling in China last week during much of the Hawks’ controversy. The inner dysfunction of the Hawks franchise made national headlines in the past week and a half after a part-owner’s racially-charged email and a separate executive’s remarks came to light.
City spokeswoman Anne Torres confirmed the city decided on Tuesday morning to hold the press conference, but said suggestions the office was attempting to distract from the Braves’ celebration were “ridiculous.”
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