Springfield Cardinals General Manager Dan Reiter might give out his cell phone number too much.
Judging by the messages he claims to have received in the wake of a negotiation breakthrough that could make the Double-A baseball club a tenant of a city-owned stadium in downtown Springfield, some people have Reiter’s number and aren’t scared to tell him how they feel.
Reiter spoke Feb. 6 at the City Council meeting as the city of Springfield is considering buying Hammons Field and a parking lot to its immediate south at a combined cost of $12 million.
“I started getting text messages about, ‘Well, you’re just going to keep going back for more money,’ and the answer is, ‘No,’” Reiter said. “This is meant to make it where it should be self-sustainable as far as we know.”
Under the terms of the lease up for consideration, the Cardinals will pay $650,000 per year in rent, which Reiter says is the highest rate for rent the team has ever had. He said unlike in other cities, the Springfield Cardinals won’t propose any sales tax additions or amendments to finance baseball stadium upgrades.
The lease agreement between the city of Springfield and the Springfield Cardinals calls for the Cards’ rent money to be split into two pots: operating funds and capital improvement funds.
“There’s always things you can’t control, but the purpose of the way that this was written for operating costs and for capital improvements, we should not be having to come back to the citizens,” Reiter said.
$6.5 million for stadium, $5.5 million for the parking lot
The Springfield City Council held a public hearing Feb. 6 on a bill that would authorize the city’s purchase of Hammons Field and the adjacent parking lot. A potential final vote is set for Feb. 14.
City Attorney Rhonda Lewsader helped lead Springfield’s negotiations of deals with the John Q. Hammons Revocable Trust and with 946 East Trafficway, LLC, a company connected to J.D. Holdings. 946 East Trafficway LLC owns the parking lot immediately south of Hammons Field, according to Greene County Assessor’s Office records. It was incorporated in April 2019, and its chief officer is Atrium Holding Company attorney Brian Cameron.
Lewsader explained the key provisions of the deal found in the council bill, presented in an all-for-one format.
“All of these agreements require that the city enter into all of them, or we can’t enter into any of them,” Lewsader said.
IN-DEPTH REPORT ON HAMMONS FIELD DEAL
Cardinals will roost in Springfield as city cuts $16M deal to buy, upgrade stadium
The proposed deal includes $12 million for a package of properties of interest to Cardinals fans — the ballpark, as well as two parking lots that serve Hammons Field. Parking prices in recent years have been controlled by an out-of-town holding company that acquired many Hammons properties after his trust filed for bankruptcy in 2016,…
The breakdown of the deal is as follows:
- $6.5 million to the John Q. Hammons Charitable Trust to purchase the rights to its ground lease with the city, as well as the trust’s rights to purchase the stadium and land under the stadium.
- $5.5 million to the LLC linked to J.D. Holdings, the company that assumed most of Hammons properties after his estate filed for bankruptcy, for parking lots that will now be managed by the Cardinals.
- A $4 million capital improvement fund to make immediate MLB-mandated facility improvements.
- A 15-year lease agreement with the Cardinals that keeps the team in Springfield through at least 2038. The current lease expires in 2030, but the Cardinals held an option to opt out of the lease as early as January of 2025, which attorneys for the team have said was likely if the ownership situation remained unresolved.
People advocate for housing and homeless
Seven people addressed the City Council in the public hearing. One was Reiter. Another was Kyle Moats, the athletic director at Missouri State University, whose Bears baseball team stands to re-up its lease with Hammons Field to the tune of $250,000 per year, with adjustments for inflation.
The city would use unrestricted savings from its General Fund and money designated for “economic vitality” from its Level Property Tax Fund to make the purchases, if the council approves it.
Darlene Steele told the city council to use the money to combat homelessness instead of to buy a stadium.
“If it’s that big of a moneymaker, if it’s that important to Springfield, where is somebody with deep pockets? Why have they not stepped up to do this?” Steele asked. “Why do we feel it necessary to do this out of general funds that could be used for many other purposes. Affordable housing is definitely at the top of the list.”
Steele alluded to both Reiter and Mayor Ken McClure crying tears of joy at the press conference where the Cardinals and city officials announced the deal Feb. 1.
“When we have somebody crying tears of joy because there are no more homeless people in Springfield, than that will be a day to remember,” Steele said.
Councilman Craig Hosmer responded to Steele, and pointed to the amount of sales tax revenue tied to Cardinals baseball and hotels, motels and restaurants. Springfield’s revenue model, Hosmer noted, is reliant on sales tax.
Bond rater Moody's notes Springfield’s dependence on sales tax in its independent assessment of Springfield's financial wellbeing and credibility. In the 2023 fiscal year, which started July 1, 2022, sales tax revenue is expected to make up about 60 percent of Springfield's overall income.
“We are heavily dependent on sales tax,” Hosmer said. “Those dollars that the city of Springfield gets — now, I’ve got some problems with part of this deal — but purchasing the stadium, I think, makes good fiscal sense for the city.”
A total of 259,044 fans came to 69 Cardinals games at Hammons Field in 2022, an average of about 3,754 fans per game. It marked a 29-percent year-over-year increase in attendance, with 2021 attendance impacted by COVID.
Hauxeda reporter Cory Matteson contributed background reporting to this story.
