Frequently Asked Questions

Go Ahead, Look Under the Hood.
View Myths vs facts pdf

Public Benefits

  • Absolutely. In fact, Lookouts games will only account for about 20% of events at the site.

    The other venues operated by the Lookouts owners, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Columbia, South Carolina, host hundreds of events each year beyond the teams’ games, averaging more than an event a day. These events include ticketed and free concerts, high school and major college athletics (baseball, football, soccer), holiday events and parties, a New Year’s ball drop, youth events (Halloween Fright Night, back-to-school gatherings, Scout sleepovers), on-field yoga, charity fundraisers, weddings, and business meetings.

    When the stadium is not being used for events, it will be open to the public as a park. Residents will be free to walk the concourse, eat lunch at picnic tables, and enjoy the fresh air.

  • ■ New tax revenue generated for County schools: $186 million (in new property tax revenue and new local-option sales tax revenue)

    ■ New tax revenue generated for City & County (excluding schools): $102 million

    ■ A first-class stadium that will be a regional, publicly-owned asset that is used throughout the year for a multitude of events, not just baseball

    ■ $1.1 billion of development within the total TIF district

    ■ A beautiful new Western gateway to Chattanooga

    ■ The transformation of a long blighted brownfield into a productive, tax-generating asset

  • Phase I of the development is expected to include $300-$350 million of private investment. The overall private investment is expected to be in the range of $1 – $1.5 billion.

  • Compared to AT&T field, the new stadium’s improved fan experience will greatly improve attendance, allowing for a conservative estimate of over 500,000 annual visitors to the new field. This will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue for local businesses, the City of Chattanooga, and Hamilton County.

    Before its new field was built, the Minor League team in Fort Wayne, Indiana, (owned and operated by the Lookouts ownership) had a per-game attendance rate similar to the Lookouts’ current rate (about 230,000 per year). Since moving into its new stadium 12 years ago, the team in Fort Wayne averages approximately 400,000 in attendance for baseball games and close to 150,000 for non-game events each year. Because the Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical area is over 34% larger than Fort Wayne, so there is potential for an even larger increase, indicating that attendance could end up being significantly larger than 500,000 per year.

The Stadium

  • The Wheland Foundry and U.S. Pipe sites have been vacant and blighted for nearly two decades. Since 2015, the City and County have been researching and evaluating a multi-use outdoor entertainment venue as a catalyst to develop and revitalize the site. In 2017 and 2018, the South Broad District Study identified the site as a key area to be developed and, after considerable community involvement, identified a stadium as a potential catalyst for the site.

    Since then, the Tennessee River Walk has been extended through the site (thanks to Perimeter Properties’ donation of 12 acres of land for the Riverwalk). A new exit off of Interstate 24 at Broad Street is under construction and will greatly improve access to this area. The property has attracted a world-class master developer and Lookouts owners who have experience developing similar projects.

    After so many years of decay at the Wheland Foundry and U.S. Pipe, now is the time to build something that will benefit all of our community.

  • Out of all the options, utilizing a public-private partnership to fund the stadium generates the most benefits for the community.

    Public entities will contribute a small fraction of the cost, yet receive the largest financial benefits of this project in the form of increased tax revenues and a City-County owned stadium. There are a number of benefits this project will provide to the public (economists call these “positive externalities”). One major positive externality is the enormous tax revenue ($102 million) that the city and county will generate from property and sales taxes without having to raise tax rates. For example, the South Broad District will generate at least $186 million in new education funding over the 30-year bond period. This increased tax revenue will flow to the City and County, not to any private entity. That is why it makes sense for the City and County to participate in the funding of the project. This is an investment for the public that will yield a significant return, and therefore is more properly viewed as an investment as opposed to an expense.

    Utilizing public-private partnerships to build minor league stadiums is a proven strategy that has been implemented successfully in multiple other mid-sized cities. For example, Fort Wayne’s publicly funded minor league stadium, which opened in 2009, resulted in well over $1 billion of development in the TIF district surrounding the stadium. The City of Fort Wayne was able to cover the debt service on the bond while also generating a significant surplus of tax revenue that previously did not exist.

    For context, 19 minor league baseball stadiums have been built since 2002. Of the 19 stadiums, 18 were built with some level of public funding:

    ■ 14 stadiums were 80%+ publicly funded

    ■ 8 stadiums were 100% publicly funded

    ■ 1 stadium built without public funds was funded by a philanthropist

  • Major anchor investments, such as stadiums, are frequently used as catalysts to spur private investment for the good of an entire community. There is a reason this site has been largely abandoned for so long: large, blighted parcels of land such as this are very difficult to redevelop. There is a “first mover” problem — everyone agrees that the site should be developed, but no individual project wants to be first. Building a stadium solves that first-mover problem. The stadium is a large project that will bring attention, foot traffic and a sense of place to the site. Mixed-use buildings for residential, office, hotel, and retail space will be attracted to the area because of the activity and new views the stadium will offer.

    Stadiums have proved to be tremendous catalysts in many places. The Lookouts owners have partnered on stadiums in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Columbia, South Carolina that have collectively stimulated approximately $2 billion in investment. Stadium have had the same effect in many other cities, including Birmingham, AL, Huntsville/Madison, AL, Durham, NC, Augusta, GA/North Augusta, SC, Louisville, KY, El Paso, TX, and many others.

  • AT&T Field was cheaply built and poorly designed (e.g., fans must face the sun, there is poor air circulation, few options for amenities). Major League Baseball (MLB) has notified the Chattanooga Lookouts that AT&T Field does not meet new MLB standards. Upgrading the current stadium to meet MLB standards is not financially feasible with the current stadium design and footprint. Construction of a new stadium not only keeps the Lookouts in town, but it also provides an anchor for the revitalization of the city’s long-neglected western gateway, catalyzing hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth through jobs, housing, and entertainment.

    A new stadium will also be a tremendous amenity for our community. In addition to hosting a variety of events other than Minor League Baseball games (see FAQ #1 above), it will provide an immensely improved fan experience compared to what Lookouts fans currently experience at AT&T Field.

    Economic impact studies show that we would lose at least $30 million of economic impact if the Lookouts were forced to leave Chattanooga.

  • The new stadium will be located on the U.S. Pipe site. While the developer is currently master planning the site, the stadium will be visible from I-24, providing an iconic gateway feature as visitors enter Chattanooga from the west.

  • Once the Lookouts vacate AT&T Field in the summer of 2026, the stadium and the land will revert to the 501(c)(3) non-profit River City Company to be reimagined into its highest and best use.

  • The lease agreement for the new stadium requires payment for 30 years, requiring the owners of the Lookouts to keep a baseball team in Chattanooga for 30 years.

    If MLB pulls the franchise during the 30 year period, the owners would have to bring a different baseball team to Chattanooga. The lease agreement requires payment for 30 years and is backed by the Lookouts organization, as well as the ownership group, which owns three separate minor league teams.

Financing

  • No. Existing property taxes will not be used to build the mixed-use stadium. Only new incremental property taxes within the TIF, that do not currently exist, will be used for the stadium. Any City and County funds used for the stadium will be paid from economic development or hotel/motel taxes.

  • The stadium will be owned by the Chattanooga Sports Authority, an entity formed by the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County.

  • Zero. The land, valued at over $10 million, will be donated to the Sports Authority by the current private landowners (Perimeter Properties). These same landowners have previously donated 12 acres of land to allow for the Riverwalk to extend into the site and $15 million worth of non-reimbursable infrastructure.

  • The Lookouts will pay the highest annual rent of any Minor League Baseball team in the country — starting at $1 million and increasing 1.5% until the stadium construction is fully repaid. That is significantly more than other teams in Tennessee and around the country:

    • The Tennessee Titans pay $362,000 at Nissan Stadium (Lookouts will pay 2.75 times this rate)

    • The Nashville Sounds pay $700,000 at First Horizon Park (Lookouts will pay 1.5 times this rate)

    • The base rent for the most recently opened stadium in the AA Southern League, in Madison (Huntsville) Alabama, opened in 2021, is $250,000. The base rents for the other two stadiums built in the league in the last decade are $150,000 (Biloxi, MS, 2015) and $400,000 (Birmingham, AL, 2013).

    Additionally, the team will take out a private loan of $25 million to help cover the increased construction cost of the stadium. This loan will be repaid by new tax revenue generated by the stadium. It is important to note that the team’s loan is second in line for repayment behind the City and County’s bonds, meaning that if the City and County are not repaid, the team will never be repaid. This is a tremendous, personal demonstration of the team’s confidence that the South Broad stadium project will be a resounding success.

  • “TIF” stands for Tax Increment Financing. A Tax Increment Finance district is a commonly used, geographically targeted economic development tool. It captures increases in property taxes resulting from new development and uses that revenue to pay for infrastructure and amenities in the development area. TIFs are commonly used tools that help spur economic activity to underutilized areas, such as the South Broad District.

    Once stadium debt is paid off and the other specific projects listed in the economic impact plan are completed, the County Industrial Development Board, the City Industrial Development Board, County Commission, and City Council can vote to amend the TIF so that incremental property taxes start flowing to general funds rather than the TIF district only.

  • Not a single penny of existing property tax revenue will go to pay for the stadium.

    The the bond payments will be covered by new revenues generated by the project and development itself (via increased property tax revenue, sales tax revenue, and parking). Most of the rest of the bond payments will be covered by the Lookouts. As development continues, new tax revenues from the project itself will greatly exceed what is necessary to cover the stadium bonds, delivering a significant return on investment for both the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County. For more, click here.

  • Like any construction project, the construction budget will include a standard contingency to account for cost variances. “Bells and Whistles” will be removed from the construction design if necessary to ensure that the project is within budget. The owners of the Lookouts and the master developer have significant positive experience with stadium design and construction and they have never been involved with a stadium project that went over budget.

  • The stadium bonds will be paid back over 30 years. In the first year, the City and County would be expected to contribute a combined $160,000 to help cover bond costs. However, once the amount of new tax revenue is generating more than the cost to service the bonds, the project will begin delivering hundreds of thousands - eventually many millions - of dollars annually to the City and County.

  • Operation and maintenance costs will be borne by the Lookouts for the entirety of the 30-year lease term. The City and County will not be responsible for regular operations and maintenance at the stadium, nor will they need to provide any staff to work at or operate the stadium.

The South Broad District

  • No. The intent is to save and re-use as many of the historic buildings as possible to retain as much of the site’s history as possible, allowing the ballfield to be as unique as Chattanooga itself. The project’s master developer, New City, specializes in repurposing former industrial buildings into innovative spaces for communities to enjoy. The Lookouts owners’ project in Columbia, South Carolina, helped save and incorporate nine historic buildings when they developed that ballfield.

  • The master developer, land owners, Chattanooga Lookouts, City of Chattanooga, and Hamilton County are all aware of this concern and are exploring a variety of options to ensure that all Chattanoogans will benefit from this historic investment in our city.

    The new stadium and Phase I of the surrounding development will not be built and operational for at least three or four years, during which time programs will be developed to help residents in the area grow with the city and receive educational and employment opportunities. Options such as neighborhood apprenticeship programs, employment stipulations with contractors and developers, and strategies for preserving existing affordable housing are currently being considered.

    Seniors 65 years and older who have limited income may apply to freeze their property tax rate, according to Tennessee’s Property Tax Freeze Act.

  • The new stadium and Phase I of the surrounding development will not be built and operational for at least three or four years, during which time the City will work with the master developer to complete a traffic impact study to ensure inflow/outflow strategies are implemented to mitigate traffic increases. Chestnut Street will likely serve as the primary entrance point while an additional traffic throughput alongside South Broad Street will further facilitate additional activity. The City is also exploring other transit opportunities for the area.

Relevant Entities

  • The master developer is New City Properties, based in Atlanta. New City has tremendous experience with mixed-use and historic redevelopment as well as large attractions and stadiums. More information on New City can be found on the Team page.

  • There are no incentives being provided to the developers. Furthermore, the developers are bearing all normal risks associated with development.

  • There are no financial incentives being provided to the Lookouts.

  • The Lookouts are owned and operated by Hardball Capital (based in Atlanta) in partnership with 22 local Chattanooga business and community leaders. Hardball Capital is an experienced owner and operator of Minor League Baseball teams and has developed world-class facilities and stadiums. For more, click here.

  • This will be determined through a public bid process after the project is financed.

  • Yes. While there will be a bid process, there will be goals for local, minority, and women-owned businesses. In the Lookouts owners’ most recent stadium build in Columbia, SC, the stadium goal for locally based enterprise (LBE) participation was met more than three times over (318%) and the disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) goal was exceeded by 43%.

  • Yes. While the precise contours of the programs have not yet been established, a workforce development program is expected to be initiated similar to the one the Lookouts owners implemented in Columbia, SC. That program involved a partnership with the Columbia Housing Authority and provided apprenticeships and skills development for local workers.

Have more questions?

Ask Here!