County Down To Two Choices To Build, Run Sports Complex

Four companies got into the game of trying to earn a chance to build and operate a new indoor sports facility in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), but only two will be allowed to keep playing, after a Pasco County committee narrowed the field last week.

Sports Facilities Management (SFM) and RADDSPORTS, a pair of Tampa Bay-based properties, are still alive and get the opportunity to present their proposals to a county evaluation committee September 30 at the West Pasco Government Center in New Port Richey.

Whoever is recommended at that meeting will go before the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) for final approval.

The complex will be built on 120 acres of land donated to the county by the Porter family, the owners and developers of Wiregrass Ranch. The county also previously agreed to contribute $8.5 million to the design and construction of the facility from money raised through its tourism development tax.

The two companies selected by the county committee — Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources department director Kelley Boree, facilities management director Ed Breitenbach, tourism manager Ed Caum, strategic policy administrator Richard Gehring and assistant county administrators Heather Grimes and Cathy Pearson — both have prior experience in the bustling sports tourism field.

Sports Facilities Management runs the successful Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg, TN, which is often cited as the perfect example of what the county envisions for the Wiregrass Ranch project, which SFM refers to as the “Pasco County Sportsplex.” It also manages the Myrtle Beach Sports Center in South Carolina, the Legends Sports Complex in The Woodlands, TX, and Round Rock Sports Complex in Round Rock, TX.

According to the Sports Facilities Planning Guide,  SFM manages five of the top nine venues in the country.

Headquartered in Clearwater, SFM is proposing a $16.5-million project for Wiregrass, with a 92,000-sq.-ft. building housing six full-size basketball courts, or 12 volleyball courts, based on the configuration.

There will be a rollout synthetic turf, which can accommodate 4-6 turf fields depending upon the sport and configuration. The facility also will have locker rooms, an adventure area for multiple non-sports events, party and office areas and a mezzanine court area, along with food service.

According to SFM, the new sports facility would generate nearly 30,000 room nights in Year One from non-local users, with that number increasing to more than 40,000 by the fifth year, equating to nearly $4 million in direct economic impact to Pasco County its initial year and $24 million total over the first five years.

SFM already has begun the process of collecting letters of intent, commitments and verbal interest, and included in its proposal a handful of letters of intent to book the facility from gymnastics, cheerleading and basketball event coordinators.

Pretty RADD, Dude!

RADDSPORTS is joined in its proposal by Mainsail Development Group, Inc., which develops resorts and hotels, and real estate consultant Municipal Acquisition, LLC.

Headed up by Richard Blalock, who helped transform Newberry’s sports recreation scene as the tiny central Florida city’s recreation director, RADDSPORTS proposes an amateur sports facility of approximately 100,000-sq.-ft., with eight basketball courts, a 100+ room hotel, an open-air amphitheater with event lawn, sports turf fields, trails and playgrounds.

The cost of the hotel would be $15 million, but since a hotel wasn’t listed in the request for proposal (RFP) it would have to be negotiated and the county is looking into the deed restrictions on the property. A 92-room Fairfield Inn & Suites is being built on land sold by the Porters just south of the proposed facility off S.R. 56.

The amphitheater shell will accommodate 500-1,500 attendees for a variety of events such as concerts, festivals and theater performances. RADDSPORTS’ plan projects 36 events per nine-month season.

“The  economic  impact  of  the  project  will  easily  exceed a million dollars per year in additional visitor spending in the community,” the proposal states.

RADDSPORTS also proposed 700kw solar panels on the roof of the facility, which the company says will produce 1,075 MwH of power annually, enough to offset current energy prices by $140,000 annually.

Also in its proposal, three financing options were suggested, including a plan to increase the county’s “bed” tax (on transient lodging), or tourist development tax, to 5 percent from its current 2 percent.

Holladay Properties, a South Bend, IN, real estate development and management firm that did not make the cut, had no interest in operating the facilities, just merely developing it and supporting whoever is chosen to operate it. However, the RFP stated the county was looking for a partner to run the facility, which was suggested by the Johnson Consulting Group in their county-funded feasibility report last year.

The last bidder -— Land O’Lakes’ Ultimate Sports Complex Athletics (USCA) Management Co., founded in June, was deemed too inexperienced by the committee. Ultimate filed a lofty proposal that called for four buildings and projected $51 million in annual income, based on 500,000 visitors.