Maritime Football Limited wants to buy 20 acres of land at Shannon Park for a $200-million football stadium—but first the province and the municipality have to agree to help pay for it.
A staff report on the much-anticipated stadium proposal coming to city council on Tuesday recommends that HRM completes a “thorough business case analysis” for a stadium district on the Shannon Park land before agreeing to shift hundreds of millions of dollars in public tax revenue to the private business venture.
Council asked for the report back in July, after multiple closed-door meetings with MFL’s representatives and—until now—no publicly disclosed financial details. The ownership consortium has been jointly negotiating with the city and the CFL on plans for a new expansion football franchise and a place where the team could play. Securing one has been conditional on securing the other.
According to HRM’s staff report, the city would partner on capital costs to construct the 24,000-seat stadium—buffered by surrounding mixed-use commercial and residential developments—and possibly partner with MFL for ongoing repairs and maintenance work. Initial construction estimates fall “in the range” of $170 to $190 million.
City hall would cover those costs by creating a Tax Incremental Financing model. Property taxes from the new stadium and surrounding buildings would be redirected from general operations and instead be put towards a $10-million annual payment for debt financing. It’s the same model HRM uses for the Nova Centre to try and recoup its annual payments for the Halifax Convention Centre.
The biggest risk factor, however, is that a TIF is incredibly susceptible to changes in property valuations, real estate trends and other external factors. It’s why tax revenues from the still virtually empty Nova Centre are now expected to be $25 million less than original estimates.
Another concern, says the report, “would be that the proposal simply shifts development from one area of the municipality to another and as a result, there would be no incremental tax revenues.”
The city will the province’s authority if it wants to create a new TIF and put a special property tax agreement on the stadium. More importantly, both MFL and HRM will also need the province to come on board as a funding partner.
Premier Stephen McNeil previously has shot down that idea unless a new source of revenue could be found to put towards a stadium. City staff are now proposing that money could be taken from an increased tax on hotel rooms and a brand new tax on car rentals to cover the costs.
Maritime Football Limited claims a new stadium will contribute $171 million to Nova Scotia’s GDP and create 1,951 full-time job equivalents. Football operations would bring in another $97 million to HRM’s GDP, claim the business owners.
Of course, all of these arguments have been heard before. Shannon Park has been proposed several times in the recent past for a stadium; always unsuccessfully.
In 2006, HRM paid $2.4 million for a report on the feasibility of a 25,000-seat stadium on the site as part of the city’s failed Commonwealth Games bid. Five years later, the city tried again. Council spent another $500,000 on a consultant’s report to see if a stadium could be built in time for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It couldn’t.
“Stadiums on their own only have the potential to create a small amount of new spending that would not have otherwise occurred and instead redistribute spending that would have occurred elsewhere to the area surrounding the stadium,” reads the staff report from years ago.
In 2012, council asked staff to buy 40 acres of the former Department of National Defence lands for future stadium use. By 2015 those plans had evaporated and the city began planning for Shannon Park to be redeveloped as a “future growth node,” creating a compact community and potential housing for 7,000 residents. The city also recently offered to sacrifice the land to Amazon during a failed bid for the e-retailer’s new corporate headquarters.
Shannon Park’s 95 acres were used for military housing from the 1950s until 2003 when the site was declared surplus. Canada Lands Company currently owns the property and has been consulting with both HRM and MFL about possible redevelopment scenarios.
This latest staff report says CLC will need to see a public engagement process from the city before supporting the stadium proposal.
The Millbrook First Nation, which is purchasing nine acres of Shannon Park to add to its ancestral reserve lands next door, will also need to be engaged in the stadium process and confirm its support before the idea moves forward.
If council votes for the business case analysis on Tuesday, HRM staff will also have to factor in what impact the new stadium district could have on roads, transit and housing, a growing concern that the chosen site is vulnerable to storm surges and rising sea levels, along with all other “assumptions underlying the business plan.”
Only five percent of residents ranked a new stadium as their top infrastructure project, according to an HRM citizen survey conducted this past summer. Polling conducted by CRA for Maritime Football Limited during the same period “suggests” 63 percent of HRM residents support a stadium being built with financial support from the public.
Maritime Football Limited plans to launch a season ticket campaign for its non-existent team next month, with average ticket prices ranging from $40 to $60.
According to MFL’s polls, 50 percent of residents say they would either definitely or probably attend at least one CFL game in Halifax.
Related Stories
Halifax council looking for staff report on CFL stadium
HFX Wanderers unveiled as Canada’s newest professional soccer club
Here we go again with this stadium business
Shannon Park stadium fantasies need more study
What’s the future hold for Shannon Park?
Mayor Mike Savage wants to build a stadium
Mayor Mike Savage is chasing the stadium dream
Two decades of world-class delusion
No clear answers on stadium finances
Unclear how many people have signed up for CFL season tickets
Brain injuries and broken bodies
HRM’s bylaw review crawls along
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2018.
We need a new hospital. We need a transit system that’s not shit.
This will end being a disaster for the tax payer. Look at hockey in Nova Scotia and that’s our national pass time! We don’t have the population for it…
We need more money spent on healthcare NOW!
We need a city that is attractive for people to stay who in turn will pay taxes to support hospitals. The bottomless pit for transit and health care infrastructure isnt going to make us prosperous. Diversity of activities is essential and that includes a multi function stadium. Why dont we stop the bus routes that no-one rides and redirect the money to a stadium. Why dont we stop the $60 million Reno of the Forum, crappy old venue that it is, and build something new like a stadium. Lots of areas to stop the waste in Halifax. Lets build a multi function stadium and make Halifax an exciting to call home.
“You know, a town with money’s a little like the mule with the spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it”
Monorail.
Greg50179723, you know what’s attractive in a city? Emergency room wait times that aren’t 5+ hours long. Access to a family doctor. Hospitals that aren’t flooding or full of vermin(sometimes both at the same time, apparently). Not having to waste 2 hours going to work and back by bus. You think people will stay here because we have a “world class” stadium but none of the above? That’s fucked.
our counsel sure know how to waste money ..no idea how to spend it wisely..that formula will mean millions lost out off out pocket….smart ….
Lots of complainers on here wanting better transit but offer nothing as a solution. Complain complain complain. How Nova Scotian.
Kakera. Easy on the agressive hostility will you. The provincial government is putting money aside for a hospital downtown. There is a plan and it is being implemented. I ride the bus to work and back and find it reliable and perfectly fine. What route do you take. When did you wait 5 hours for a emergency hospital visit. I can tell you if you need help in emergency you get it right away if it is deemed a real emergency. Stop being a hostile complainer. Complain complain complain. Move somewhere else if you dont like it here.
Well Greg, I have experienced a more than 5 hour wait in the hospital emergency room. Had a kidney stone. At one point I begged them to kill me because the pain was excruciating. But because it was “only pain”, it was not deemed an emergency. Now, I couldn’t go to my family doctor because she is booked 2 weeks ahead of time. The drop-in clinics will not prescribe pain medication. The only option I had was to go to the emergency. And because somebody sprained their toe or had a cold, I had had to wait.
After 12:30 at night in Halifax, there are no Transit options. After 12:30 at night in Montreal, there are Transit options.
These are long-standing issues – probably older than you are. We have asked. We have begged. We have screamed. And now we are getting a stadium? How are people going to get home from the stadium after a long game? Who is going to care for the athletes who injure themselves while playing in the stadium?
Kak is simply – and rightfully – frustrated. Perhaps your bus ride is not nearly as long as Kak’s. Apples and oranges are both fruit yet are equally as different.
And you are right as well. We have had a period of economic annihilation as a result of Peter Kelly and some of the still-remaining city council members. We are now in a process of playing catch-up. I’m not calling Mike Savage a Saviour but under his leadership we are seeing actual progress.
“Complain complain complain. How Nova Scotian.” is not very nice. Complaining is reflective of our past experience and the frustration that we Nova Scotians have felt for decades. Voicing an opinion contrary to yours is not complaining. Prioritizing is a key element in the planning process here because there is a finite amount of money. Do we go to the bar or do we pay rent?
Anyway, I will stop rambling. What I’m asking you to do is to consider things from the other person’s perspective. Don’t get caught up in the emotion behind the message.
And now I’m late for work… how Nova Scotian!
(Monorail!)
Shannon Park is the perfect spot for a new hospital, along with hotels for accommodation, restaurants for food , easy access off of highways, and lots of parking. Hang a dedicated ambulance lane from the MacKay bridge that goes directly to the Emergency department. Make the new hospital state of the art, and shut down those nightmares in Halifax.
Greg, I’m not telling you a thing about me. Having a different opinion than someone is not “hostile”. Don’t throw around words you don’t understand.
Or we could spend the money on things we actually need like a new hospital or our shorty roads
I’m not against a CFL team coming to Hfx, just against public money being dumped into it. Everyone needs to get this insane idea of a $200Mil stadium out of their heads. Look at the success of the Montreal Impact (different kind of football) and the Saputo Stadium. I’ve been to many sold out soccer matches there. Original capacity of 13,000, since renovated now hold 20,000. Total combined cost approx. $40mil… and this is for successful team in a much bigger market than Hfx. It’s called baby steps… much like what the HFX Wanderers FC are doing. Small 7,500 seat pop-up, expand as needed. You don’t succeed by making your first attempt being the moon. Again I would love to see the success of a team in the area… I just get frustrated when I hear people talking such craziness and amounts of money for buying into a league that is suffering desperately. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saputo_Stadium