Buncombe TDA approves $22.9M for McCormick Field, largest investment in its history

ASHEVILLE - A funding plan for a $37.5 million McCormick Field renovation supposedly hinged on a single vote from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority July 26. With commitments secured from the city, Buncombe County and Asheville's own minor league baseball team, the TDA buy-in was the final piece needed.

The vote, which needed a supermajority, failed. Twenty minutes later, in an unusual move, the board voted again. This time, one of the two holdouts, Scott Patel, switched sides, giving the TDA's $22.9 million investment the seven-vote approval it needed — and cementing the Tourism Product Development Fund's largest investment in its 20-year history, according to TDA spokesperson Ashley Greenstein.

Vic Isley, president and CEO of Explore Asheville and the BCTDA, commended what she called a "monumental" decision, which some board members called the biggest vote in the board's history, and urged people "not just to think about it as baseball."

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Instead, she said, consider the project a needed investment in the city's largest public, outdoor venue, with improvements intended to make it possible to operate year-round events outside of baseball, such as concerts, winter light festivals, craft fairs, ice skating, movie nights and more.

“I do believe it is additive to this community, and what I’m really excited about with the change in legislation last year, is that change in legislation enables us to do more things," Isley said, referencing a recent move to increase the amount of funding that can be used by the TDA for community capital projects from one-quarter to one-third of its lodging tax revenue. The rest of the money is dedicated to advertising and marketing.

"This is not this and nothing else. This is, I think, a first opportunity for us to demonstrate a debt serve project and be able to do that more times over for this community over the long-term.”

The city sought the funding through the TDA's "Major Works Pathways," part of its TPDF grant, the money derived from the lodging tax paid by visitors who stay overnight in Buncombe County in facilities including hotels, vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfast inns.

The McCormick Field investment marks the first debt service project funded through the TPDF, which has committed $80 million to 46 community tourism projects since the fund’s inception, Greenstein said in a July 26 news release, with more than half invested in City-owned or operated amenities.

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What is the McCormick Field renovation?

Dubbed a "centennial restoration," the McCormick field renovation would deliver significant capital investments for the city-owned stadium built in 1924 and secure the future of minor league baseball in Asheville. The asks are necessary to retain Major League Baseball affiliation for the Asheville Tourists, and also would expand the reach of the stadium itself.

Carrying a $37.5 million price tag, over the length of the loan, and with interest, the total cost of the project is $55.6 million. Of this, the TDA's contribution represents 41% of the total project cost and $1.4 million annually for 15 years. It also includes a $1.95 million grant reallocation of previously awarded funding for the Coxe Avenue Project.

Chris Corl, who is charged with overseeing the city's major stadium overhaul, said the TDA vote represents the "last step in the funding model" for the project. If it didn't come through, he said, they would have to work on restructuring the plan and "see if we could find a way."

As the city's director of Community and Regional Entertainment Facilities, Corl's department handles several Asheville event spaces, including the Harrah's Cherokee Center, the WNC Nature Center and more.

This isn't the only recent movement forward on the project, Corl noted. On July 25, Asheville City Council authorized the city to enter into a $3.7 million contract for McCormick Field engineering and design services.

McCormick field construction is expected to begin September 2024 and be completed by March 2026, according to Greenstein's release.

McCormick Field currently attracts 179,500 attendees annually, with an estimated average of 28 percent of attendees coming from the five-county area surrounding Buncombe County. The City expects total annual visitation to double to 376,200 by 2029 due to enhanced marketing efforts, increased venue activation outside baseball games, and trend comparisons following similar renovation projects.

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TPDF investment for McCormick Field is contingent upon the city meeting additional terms recommended by the TPDF Committee. This includes, but is not limited to, a permanent exhibit showcasing the storied history of baseball in Asheville and the three Negro League teams’ presence at the field. The TPDF Committee also requests that the baseball club host a Travel and Hospitality night, allowing local hospitality workers to attend a free or reduced-priced game each season.

How did the vote go down?

Patel, originally a no-vote for the project, said after the first vote that it was hard for him to vote for something "this big with so much money attached to it," which he said would tie the hands of future board members. Following the failed vote, with Patel and board member Andrew Celwyn voting against, the board resumed discussion on the item.

In an email to fellow board members, Celwyn laid out a number of reasons for his opposition to the funding proposal, among them a concern that the project represents a "shakedown" of the city by Major League Baseball, a multibillion dollar industry.

"People are failing to recognize that this is a subsidy for Major League Baseball," Celwyn told the Citizen Times after the meeting.

His second major critique, he said, was the way the conversation has been framed: baseball or no baseball. Even if the city lost its minor league franchise, he was hopeful the city could get an independent team for its stadium.

"If there is one thing that we know at the TDA, it's the drawing power of Asheville," Celwyn said in his email to the board. "We draw tourists to visit. We draw residents to come live here. We draw businesses to come set up shop here in Buncombe County. There is absolutely no reason we wouldn't be able to draw a new team to McCormick Field if the Asheville Tourists decided not to stay. We can both keep our money for other projects and keep baseball here in Asheville."

While a few members voiced skepticism around funding the project, or at least hesitation in the early days of conversation, some, like Vice Chair Matthew Lehman, said he saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate the "viability" of a pathway fund for large scale projects.

“If this pathway to improving one city-owned asset could lead to the potential to have that same investment in another city owned asset, then I think it’s a positive precedent for what we can do to benefit tourism," Lehman said. "But also it’s something that our community is really passionate about.”

This "passion" was a common refrain, but newly-named Board Chair Brenda Durden said it wasn't just about nostalgia, "It was about the whole package and what we can do for the whole community."

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Approval was recommended by the TPDF Committee, she said, after a very "intense and intentional" conversation in June.

Patel questioned funding such a significant project from the city when something like affordable housing is so desperately needed in Asheville, but Isley reminded the board that funding from the TPDF is to be used within specific parameters that help increase overnight visitation, and is not a fund that could be utilized for affordable housing.

After some back-and-forth, Patel indicated a desire to vote again, this time clinching the vote in a 7-1 supermajority in favor of the funding for McCormick Field, with Celwyn still voting against. One board member was absent.

When asked if a second vote was allowed in quick succession, Isley said it was permissible after discussion.

TDA attorney Sabrina Rockoff was not present at the July 26 meeting and did not immediately return request for comment.

Celwyn said there was "no question" the process around the vote was an unusual one.

“I certainly was surprised that apparently there was some mechanism on a revote after you’ve already taken a public vote on a measure to go back and vote on it again," he said. "In my six years on the TDA, and my several years before that watching I’ve never seen a revote. Granted, most of the votes are not that contentious.”

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe TDA approves $22.9M for McCormick Field, 'last step' needed