Port Wentworth OKs development agreement for Ghost Pirates $25 million training facility
Port Wentworth City Council unanimously approved a development agreement with the Savannah Ghost Pirates and Port Wentworth Development Authority for a new training facility.
In April 2023, the Ghost Pirates announced plans to construct the $25 million, 90,000 square-foot facility in Port Wentworth's planned 150-acre recreation complex, which will be at the corner of Monteith Road and Interstate 95, and signed a letter of intent the same month. The groundbreaking for the facility will be in March 2024 and construction is expected to be complete in the summer of 2025.
The 58-page document expands on the letter of intent signed by the Ghost Pirates and Port Wentworth in April 2023, laying out all the mechanisms by which the city, the Ghost Pirates and the Port Wentworth Development Authority will operate under the agreement.
Some of the city's obligations in the letter of intent include:
Constructing and maintaining joint parking for the facility
Waiving development and permit fees to the fullest extent possible
Bringing utilities to the site
Working with the DMO to provide billboard signage along I-95
Providing the team financing for the facility, up to $6.5 million in the form of a loan, 35% of the cost of the facility's design, construction, fixes, furniture and equipment
Providing the team with a $1 million grant, upon issuance of certificate of occupancy
Will contribute a total of $1 million by coordinating with the team to achieve a minimum of $100,000 in sponsorships and supporting partners for the team and the facility each year for the next 10 years.
Transferring the title of the land to the team, on or before the facility is issued a certificate of occupancy.
City Attorney Scott Robichaux emphasized during the meeting that there were a lot of protections for the city in the final development agreement.
More: Ghost Pirates' Port Wentworth facility will include public rinks, youth hockey leagues
"It lays out everything from timelines, how things are going to be at the actual site, what will be in there," Robichaux said. "It lays out that, if for some reason, there has to be a relocation in the next 20 or 30 years, it reverts back to the city, so it won't be sold to somebody else."
Robichaux said that the city had been operating under the letter of intent for so long, because it took time to negotiate the contract due to the state of Georgia having restrictions on how involved cities can be with private business developments. He mentioned that the attorneys for the city and Ghost Pirates are still hammering out final details, and if there were any major changes, he would bring it back to council to review.
The facility will include two regulation-size ice rinks, a sports bar and grill, a pro shop and other amenities. It will primarily be a practice facility for the Ghost Pirates, but will also host youth and adult hockey, public figure skating and learn-to-skate programs.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Port Wentworth approves final agreement for Ghost Pirates facility
