Effects of the Wrigley Field Renovation on the City of Chicago
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1 Effects of the Wrigley Field Renovation on the City of Chicago To: The U.S. Conference of Mayors Prepared by: Febrina Boediman Shan Du Kyle Jin Matthew Lee Renee Verdier Won Sun You 2 Executive Summary Objective: To explore the effects of the approved Wrigley Field Renovation Plan for the City of Chicago and its key constituents and stakeholders. The findings of this report will identify economic and socio-economic effects for Chicago as well as its direct effect towards hospitality and tourism. Positive Effects: The report finds a positive growth in economic impact to Chicago while considering nonconventional revenue streams through spending, job creation, and tax incentives. ● The renovation will generate $57M in annual net new direct spending ● $94M in annual new indirect and induced spending ● Restoration will create approximately 2,100 jobs (1,300 permanent/800 in direct construction) ● $232M renovation of Wrigley Field would be supported by Class-L property tax incentive Negative Effects: The amended Wrigley Field Planned Development causes negative effects on the Lake View community and its residents both financially and socially. ● The approximate total cost of 41,397 sq. ft. of Lake View land is $11M ● $3.75M that the Cubs must pledge in order to compensate for the expansion plan of the left- field and the right-field walls is below the market value of 41,397 sq. ft. of public land that Lake View must sacrifice ● Narrowing of Sheffield Ave and Waveland Ave erodes quality of life of Lake View residents ● Increase in night games minimizes economic activities, invades residents’ quality of life and causes traffic congestion within the community Hotel and Restaurants Development: The projected hotel and restaurants development will be a good addition to the Wrigleyville area, as the report found that there is an increase in hotel demand in this particular area. ● The demand average for hotel rooms in the Wrigleyville area has reached 112,854 per year ● The current hotel rooms supply has covered the number of average rooms demand, with a mixed of upscale and midscale hotels in the area, which gives an opportunity for an upper- upscale hotel to be developed ● Restaurants and bars around Wrigley Field clustered along N Clark Street vary from fast food restaurants to sports themed bars ● The projected restaurant and retail space should take the current restaurants and bars supply in the area into consideration (types and price) when deciding on the space tenants Tourism Development: The renovations are projected to increase the capacity of and visitation to Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville, creating new demand and opportunities for tourism product development. ● Wrigley Field is already Illinois’ 3rd most popular tourist attraction, drawing over 3 million visitors per year ● In addition to being a sports attraction and the home of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field is also considered a heritage destination and social gathering place ● Renovations should take these various motivations into account and ensure the preservation of historical artifacts as well as promote niche social events ● Wrigley Field can maximize economic benefits for community-owned businesses by giving local vendors satellite locations within the renovated Wrigley Field stadium 3 Impact Analysis Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, a Major League Baseball club is scheduled to undergo a significant renovation. The 5-year project will cost a total of $500M. $200M will be devoted to redevelopment of the Wrigleyville community and $300M will be solely devoted to the renovation of the stadium. Assessment of Economic and Social Effects The goal of the economic and social assessment is to analyze additional future growth while locating nonconventional revenue streams through spending, job creation, and tax incentives as a result of the Wrigley Field renovation. Investment The renovation of Wrigley Field will lead to economic impacts determined by variables such as growth in increase in local, county, and state revenue, tax revenue, job creation, personal earnings and consumer spending. The forward will depict just how much of an economic impact will the Wrigley Field renovation project will generate for Chicago and the neighboring region. The data below supported by the Conventions, Sports, and Leisure International report highlights the amount of new growth in terms of revenue reinvested into the economy as a result of the renovation that otherwise would not be present. The renovation project will generate roughly $57M in new annual direct spending.1 Direct spending consists of the revenue driven by in & out of ballpark fan spending and other spending from premium seats, league sources, advertisers, and visiting teams. Table 1 is a categorical breakdown of the direct spending allocation. Table 1: Direct Spending 1 Greenberg, Jon. "A Simple Plan? Hardley." ESPN. 17 11 2010: n. page. Print. 4 2013 Direct Spending ($ millions) Categories Spending Game-day operations 118 Lodging 76 Restaurants 110 Retail Shops 48 Non-Cubs Entertainment 48 Total Direct Spending 400 The renovation project will also generate roughly $94M in new annual indirect and induced spending. Indirect spending consists of “supplies of goods or services as a result from the direct spend” at Wrigley Field2. Induced spending encompasses the “change in local consumption due to the personal spending by individuals whose incomes are affected by direct and indirect spending.” 2 Table 2 is a chart that exemplifies the categorical breakdown of direct, indirect, and induced spending. Table2: Direct, Indirect, Induced Spending Changes in Economic Impacts ($ millions) Direct Indirect + Induced Total Spending Spending Spending 2019 457 332 789 2013 400 238 638 Net New Spending 57 94 151 Job Creation The $200M investment by the Ricketts family towards Chicago will help increase job growth and enhance the surrounding areas. According to the Conventions, Sports, & Leisure 2 Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. “The Restoration of Wrigley Field. 2013. PDF file. 5 International reporting, Wrigley Field will instantly create over 7,000 jobs. 2,100 of the total jobs will be positions directly affiliated with the actual renovation of Wrigley Field. 800 of the jobs will be created through construction.2 Class-L $232M of the Wrigley Field renovation is supported by a property tax incentive titled Class-L. Class–L encourages the rehabilitation of landmark properties such as Wrigley Field in Chicago. As a result, taxes will be reduced on the 99year old ballpark by an estimated $8.1M over 12 years. As of November 12th, 2013, the Finance Committee & Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved of the Class-L incentive and the project will reach its final stage of approval in voting by the city council. The current property taxes on Wrigley are estimated at $1.5M a year.3 With the proposed renovation plans, Wrigley Field will increase in stadium value. According to the Landmarks Commission, the project will increase property tax to $4.2M at the completion of the 12 year- incentive periods. Community The Chicago Cubs commitments to the community are unparalleled. The renovation plans include a $1M new ballpark at 1230 W. School Street in Chicago. The Cubs fund will also increase donation support of already $2M a year to children in the Lakeview community since 2000 (Greenberg). Competitive Set The renovation of Wrigley Field draws many parallels to the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park renovation. Built two years apart from each other, Fenway in 1912 and Wrigley in 1914, both are recognized by the Landmark Commission of Historic Preservation. Table 3 is a chart of the direct, indirect, and induced spending that economically benefited the city of Boston. 3 Chicago Cubs. "FAQ." Restore Wrigley Field. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Table3: Boston Red Sox as a Competitive Set 7 Negative Effects Referred to as the planned development (PD), the Wrigley Field renovation and the Lake View redevelopment plans have gone through various amendments. The latest amendment calls for various architectural changes to the original renovation plan, which was approved by the Chicago City Council back in April. On December 11th, the Chicago City Council passed the latest amendment with support from Mayor Rahm Emanuel.4 Additionally, the Lake View community groups such as the East Lake Vie Neighbors strongly contend the Wrigley Field renovation plan as it will negatively affect the livelihoods of many residents in the community. Cost Overruns Initial design of the Wrigley Field renovation located the advertisement signage and the video board in a way that obstructed views from the rooftop clubs. However, the Cubs and the rooftop owners have a binding contract for which the rooftop club owners pay the Cubs 17% of their annual revenue in exchange for allowing rooftop views to be preserved.5 The original renovation plan of the Wrigley Field violates this contract and the Cubs have been challenged with a threat of lawsuits from the rooftop owners. Thus, the rationale for the latest amendment is to prevent any litigation from the rooftop owners. The amended Wrigley Field Planned Development includes expansions of the left-field and right-field walls. Specifically, the left-field wall will be extended by 16 ft. and the right-field wall will be extended by 7 ft. 4 Expanding the Wrigley Field footprint gives the Cubs the space they need to erect the 650 sq. ft. advertisement signage on the right field and install the 5,700 sq. ft. video-board on the left field further out to preserve rooftop views that otherwise would have been obstructed. However, these architectural changes require more funding from the Cubs than $300 million that they allotted for the original budget. Cost overruns mean unexpected cost increase from the original budget and they are inevitable in most stadium projects. Two most recent stadium projects in the Major League Baseball have experienced cost overruns in their construction phase.