Town Center FAQ

 

The Baseball Stadium Feasibility study is available here. The presentation made to the City Council in July can be found here.  

The Presentation from the December 5, 2022 Town Hall Meeting is available here.

On December 5, 2022 the City Council held a Town Hall Meeting to discuss the development and a possible stadium. Below are some questions and answers that came from that meeting. 

To see the FAQ that were posted before that meeting please click here. 

If you have more questions please email us!

Where did the idea of a stadium for minor league baseball come from?

The City Manager and a baseball team had conversations in 2021. During discussions with KHJR that was brought up to them. KHJR then had conversations with the team to discuss the topic further. The City decided to do a feasibility study on a minor league baseball stadium by an independent third party, CSL, to help the city understand and vet the idea. 

The Baseball Stadium Feasibility study is available here. The presentation made to the City Council in July can be found here.  Shortly after that study was complete the City received a Letter of Interest from the American Association of Professional Baseball to locate a team in Jersey Village.

 

Who paid for the feasibility study?

The City did.

 

Why do we need a stadium?

A stadium would help to achieve one of the Comprehensive Plan Goals to bring more family friendly restaurants and entertainment options to the City. A stadium with events throughout the year would also bring in a lot of foot traffic to the development that would benefit the development as well.

 

Will the stadium only be for baseball?
The stadium will accommodate other sports, such as soccer or lacrosse, as well. It can also hold concerts and other events as well.

 

What happens if the baseball team leaves?

Another team could be found for the stadium. The stadium could be converted into other sports related uses.

 

How big of a stadium would be built?

Right now it is estimated to be 4,500 seats with approximately 3,500 permanent seats and the remaining as suites, berms, etc.

 

What is the average attendance at a baseball game for this league?

For the 2022 season the following attendance numbers were reported

Team	Total	Games	Average	Stadium Fixed Seating*
Kane County Cougars	248,354	49	5,068	10,923
Chicago Dogs	191,984	48	4,000	6,300
Winnipeg Goldeyes	163,893	48	3,414	7,461
Gary SouthShore RailCats	152,894	48	3,185	6,139
Lincoln Saltdogs	144,494	47	3,074	8,500
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks	147,073	48	3,064	4,172
Kansas City Monarchs	105,302	50	2,106	6,537
Lake Country DockHounds	93,711	50	1,874	3,641
Milwaukee Milkmen	86,028	50	1,721	4,000
Cleburne Railroaders	65,062	49	1,328	1,750
Sioux Falls Canaries	59,425	49	1,213	4,500
Sioux City Explorers	52,121	47	1,109	3,631
Total:	1,510,341	Avg:	2,596	5,630

 

Attendance Source: American Association - attendance | Pointstreak Sports Technologies

Stadium Fixed Seating Source: American Association of Professional Baseball - Wikipedia

 

Will they clear cut the land or will they save some of the trees?

Some of the trees will have to cleared for the buildings. But the developer will try to save some of the larger trees. Large trees help to enhance the development in several ways and are an asset to it.

 

How is the City protected in this deal?

The stadium would be owned or leased by the Local Government Corporation (LGC), which is a governmental version of a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Any acts of the LGC are separate from the city and would not put the city on the hook for any liability. Learn more about LGC’s from this Texas City Attorneys Association presentation.

 

I’ve heard there are environmental issues with the land. Is that true?

The city had Phase 1 environmental studies done on the land in 2018. The studies came back as the property being clean with no environmental issues. Those studies can be found here. The city has not been provided any documents to substantiate any claims that there are environmental issues not found in the environmental studies. 

 

Wouldn’t the city get more money if they sold it to be developed for multifamily or industrial use?

The city could get more money for the land sale if the city changed the zoning for those uses alone. However, if the city were to do that 50% of the profit of the land sale would go back to the old owners as per the settlement agreement.

If the city rezoned for it all to be multi-family apartments and sssuming the entire area would be developed like what we already have with the Promenade, we can assume the property value would be approximately $60,000,000, based upon HCAD records. That would net the city about $445,000 in property tax revenue each year. This does not consider what those new residents could contribute to the sales tax base.

The city could rezone the property to accommodate an industrial use. Assuming all 33 acres, or approximately 1,437,480 square feet of land, were to be developed into an industrial use like what Jersey Village has with Prologis or like what is just up 290 from us that houses RTIC and McKesson, we can reasonably expect a property value of approximately $48,240,650, which would yield us property taxes in the amount of $358,186. It’s unknown what, if any, sales tax could be generated from this property as an industrial use.

The year one projections for when this project is fully built out would have the city getting $160,272 in sales tax and $1,336,829 in property tax. This would also bring in a lot of people from outside of Jersey Village to spend money in our city.

 

I’ve heard stadiums don’t have an economic benefit. Is that true?

Most economists say that the spending of leisure dollars are simply redirected when it comes to stadiums. The benefit to a large city with lots of entertainment options may be minimal, as residents may choose to go to a game at a stadium instead of a movie theatre. With limited entertainment options in Jersey Village this would bring in leisure dollars to be spent here that are currently being spent in unincorporated Harris County or in other cities.

Chapter 9 of the Feasibility Study goes into this in greater detail.

 

 

 

Will the city move events we currently have (like Founders Day, Fourth of July, etc.) in this part of Jersey Village to the stadium area?

It is not anticipated that we would move already existing events over there. It is more likely that new events would be over there, rather than moving existing ones.

 

Will this project increase flooding?

The city, and Harris County Flood Control, regulations require no impact be added to flooding with any development.

 

How many apartments would be in the development?

The final number is not known yet, but at least 100 units are expected.

 

When will the City be able to announce a team owner?

As of December 5, 2022 we do not have a timeline for that.

 

What is the Team Owner/Operator role of a stadium?

They would lease the stadium 365 days a year and would do programing, events, etc. in the stadium to help increase their bottom line as well.

 

Will this cause an increase in traffic?

This will bring more people to the City, which means there will be more vehicles. It is estimated the Holiday In The Village event that was held in the City on December 3, 2022 had 2,500 people. The 2022 Fourth of July event brought at least 5,000 people.

With the location of the stadium at Jones and 290 and with FM 529 being right there the majority of the traffic would be limited to those three streets.

 

Will this increase noise?

The city has not studied this issue specifically. A lot of this would depend upon stadium design, etc.

In looking at noise studies from other minor league stadiums noise from the stadium had largely dissipated after about 1,500 feet. Although that study did not factor in crowd noise as that is intermittent and typically lasts no more than 30 seconds. You can view that study here and here.

The city would work with the owner/operator to help mitigate noise concerns as best as we can.

 

Will the Police and Fire Departments move to the new development?

No.

 

How would the city handle homeless who come into our boundaries? What happens if they set up tents, like near Reliant, George R Brown and Minute Maid?
The City has already had to address this issue under TXDOT Bridges with a positive outcome utilizing TXDOT staff. Police and Fire Departments will actively monitor this to ensure city ordinances and state laws are enforced on this topic. 

 

How might the Stadium / development impact the police and fire departments responses needed?
This is an unknown at this time but city staff will be able to continue to provide our citizens with the high level of customer service they are accustom. 

 

How many more police and fire personnel will need to be hired to maintain the levels Jersey Village residents are accustomed to?
It is likely more staff will be needed for the Police Department. An exact number is hard to say at this stage. All staffing decisions will be made on actual needs, as they are done today, and the demand level on the services. 

Increases in the number of Fire Fighters has been discussed with the Council already. Staffing will need to increase for the Fire Department regardless of this development happening or not. 

 

Did the City put out an RFQ for a Developer?

No. The city is not required to do an RFQ for professional services such as this.

 

Who will manage the baseball stadium? (Maintenance, Concessions, Admission, Advertising, etc.)

The stadium would be managed by the team ownership group. They would be in charge of running the stadium, scheduling events (not just baseball), the concessions, day-to-day maintenance, etc.