Guest column: Polar Park's success is plain to see

Lately, there has been much discussion about the investment the city made in Polar Park, and whether that is paying off for Worcester.

A lot of this discussion in the media has focused on a narrative that the ballpark will not yield the economic benefits needed to pay off its construction costs. Yet, the facts continue to show that the ballpark is indeed paying for itself, and that it is a major success for the city.

At a recent City Council Finance Committee meeting, the city manager and the city’s chief financial officer delivered a detailed report and pro forma to the City Council on the ballpark’s District Improvement Financing (DIF) district. The DIF is a special financing district that covers the park and its abutting properties, where revenues collected by the city pay for the debt incurred by building Polar Park. During this presentation, it was clearly demonstrated that the revenues from the DIF – taxes, parking, permits and the team’s rent – are more than covering the expenses related to the park, just as they have done every year, without taking from the municipal general fund. Despite COVID-associated delays with many of the surrounding developments, the bottom line is that revenue is covering expenses.

The city’s pro forma over 30 years showed a net gain of over $50 million for the city as a result of Polar Park and the new development it has caused in the Canal District. This does not directly account for development occurring in other parts of the city as a result of the positive momentum around the park.

The pro forma and the economic benefits of the park

Polar Park has helped catalyze over 1,800 units of new housing and $700 million in private investment in the city through new developments that are being built around it. This housing is essential in addressing the city’s shortage of supply. Not to mention the creation of 250 new jobs in the park alone.

The Madison Properties campus, the Cove, and the three housing developments on the former Table Talk Pies site would not be happening right now without Polar Park. Each of these developments will have amenities that rely on the ballpark – whether it’s the Cove’s upper-floor patios overlooking centerfield or the public street lined with retail that will bisect the Table Talk site and connect the front gate of Polar Park to the front door of the Worcester Public Market.

Just these developments around the park are creating 1,000 units of housing on underutilized lots. Madison Properties is expected to complete its first 228-unit building this year, Boston Capital’s 83 units of affordable housing at the Table Talk Lofts is going vertical, and 171 units at the Cove behind centerfield is well underway. Another 375 units by Quarterra Multifamily on half of the Table Talk site received site approval this year, along with Rossi Development’s 58 units of housing and ground-floor retail along Green Street.

Other developments within a square mile of the park include the new 364 units of housing with 10% affordable units proposed on Franklin Street, another 100 units of housing proposed where Fairway Beef used to stand, and Wood Partners’ 371 units of housing nearing completion along Shrewsbury Street.

In addition to housing, a new hotel and 200,000-square-foot lab building by Madison Properties will go up across from Polar Park, along with their left field office and lab building that will rise above left field within the park.

Also, the redesign of Kelley Square, the addition of a public park, and lighting improvements added to the Green and Franklin Street tunnels all would not have happened if not for the park.

A recent sports economists’ report uses an outdated DIF pro forma from the city from 2018 to base their entire projection and argument that the park is an economic liability to the city. However, that pro forma did not account for nearly all of this aforementioned development in the DIF. In 2018, only Madison’s development on a smaller scale was announced at the time. That means that pro forma is missing tens of millions of dollars in expected property tax revenue from developments yielding nearly a thousand new housing units, not to mention increased business activity in the Canal District.

A misleading application of the “crowding out” effect

The recent report that called the park a net loss to the city leaned heavily on the outdated pro forma and the application of an academic notion called a “crowding out effect,” which essentially states that stadiums crowd out existing spending for businesses in the area since people have limited entertainment budgets and tend to choose one activity over the other.

The vast majority of academic literature analyzing the crowding out effect uses case studies of massive projects that host major league events like SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California; Truist Park in Cobb County, Georgia; or when cities construct stadiums to host the Olympics or World Cup. These are not the same conditions that apply to Worcester.

Polar Park is built into an existing urban area on an underutilized property that had been vacant for decades. It is not a large stadium with its own economic ecosystem, built on hundreds of acres of land with a sea of parking surrounding it. With the park’s interior concourse connecting directly to Green Street, encouraging access to the Canal District, and concessions comprised of mostly locally owned small businesses, Polar Park is explicitly designed to be part of the community. It is an economic development keystone that knits together the Main Street commercial corridor, the Canal District and nearby neighborhoods.

And Polar Park tickets start at just $9. The affordability of the ballpark gives visitors an opportunity to spend on the rest of the Canal District.

The facts about Polar Park’s success

The facts about the success of the ballpark and the team are clear.

Polar Park was recently voted the best minor league ballpark in the country by over 87,000 voters. In 2022, the park led all 120 minor league teams with 547,000 tickets sold and finished sixth in average per-game attendance. In its inaugural season, the WooSox website led all minor league teams with over 211,000 unique online visitors. The park hosted its 1 millionth fan in April after just two seasons of WooSox play. And ticket sales continue to surge over last year’s sales at this point in the season, with 15,000 more tickets sold for spring games and 24,000 more tickets sold for summer games.

Additionally, one of the park’s strengths is its ability to host community events besides baseball. The park has hosted football games, wine-tasting festivals, craft beer and food truck festivals, business conferences, 5K runs, nonprofit fundraisers, comedy nights, and even wedding receptions. Beyond the 75 home games a year, the park continues to be more than just a ballpark.

The WooSox are already covering many of the construction cost overruns associated with COVID-related delays and other unforeseen factors. Before the park was completed, they agreed to eventually cover all debt service related to the city’s additional borrowing – more than $40 million – and even extended their lease from 30 years to 35 years, as well as their commitment to not relocate from 15 years to 25 years. The team is just as invested in this as the city is. And it is certainly paying off for both sides.

The facts are clear. Polar Park and the Worcester Red Sox are an important factor in the city’s economic momentum and will continue to be in the future.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce says Polar Park pays for itself