Nashville Sounds stadium to cost $10M more than expected

First Tennessee Park, the new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds, will cost Metro $10 million more than originally expected because of unforeseen issues with the construction of the stadium.

The budget overage will bump the construction costs of the city-financed stadium from $37 million to $47 million, propelling the overall cost of the project to $75 million — a more than 15 percent increase in the total price.

This tally does not include $5 million in other infrastructure work that Metro has done to accommodate the stadium.

Mayor Karl Dean's administration, which announced the new price tag at Wednesday's Metro Sports Authority meeting, has attributed the uptick to several factors, most of which became apparent in recent months as construction crews have worked vigorously to finish by opening day on April 17:

Contaminated soil at the stadium's footprint required more environmental remediation than initially expected.

The residential and mixed-use construction boom around the stadium increased sub-contractor pricing.

Re cent snow and ice in Nashville prevented workers from getting to the construction site, which will force the project team to pay additional labor costs in coming weeks to make up for lost time.

New upgrades to the stadium, including a guitar-shaped scoreboard to mimic the one at Greer Stadium, have meant a pricier ballpark.

"When you have a fast-moving project with a fixed deadline, more often than not, you encounter these types of budget challenges as you move from concept to construction," Dean said. "The good news is that Metro government has the funds to cover the additional expense in a way that does not impact other city programs and projects.

"When all is said and done, the economic activity and development occurring around the ballpark and the tax revenues they will generate will more than make up for these additional costs."

In December 2013, the Metro Council voted 29-7 to issue $65 million in municipal bonds to sign off on a finance plan that Dean had introduced only a month before. An assortment of tax revenue, including sales tax generated by the stadium and property tax revenue from nearby development, as well as an annual lease from the Sounds, are designed to pay off its annual debt.

Critics of that plan have pointed to the hasty approval time line to explain the more expensive bill.

"It's unsurprising given how this project was rushed through at the ninth hour before Christmas break by an administration that is not held accountable by Metro Council," said Councilman Josh Stites, who voted against the financing plan.

According to Dean's administration, however, the higher price tag will not require floating another set of bonds or any sort of tax hike.

Instead, the plan is to transfer $5 million in tax increment financing — or TIF — from the Metro Development and Housing Agency's Jackson Redevelopment District, which includes the new stadium. Another $1.5 million will come from already-collected TIF dollars in reserves. And another $1 million will come from the stadium's initial revenue bond sale, which generated an additional $1 million in proceeds than anticipated.

Meanwhile, the Sounds ownership team, led by Frank Ward, has committed to contributing an extra $2 million, which will cover the cost of the stadium upgrades, including the scoreboard.

"We're going to be able to cover these costs," said Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling, who likened the project's construction timeline to a "helter-skelter pace" to finish by April 17. "We have a plan in place to come up with the money.

"Yes, I'm disappointed that it's costing more that we originally talked about, but when we did the financing, we didn't have the design," he said. "We were working from very conceptual drawings, and we were working fast."

The overall $75 million figure comes from construction costs — now $47 million — as well as another $23 million in land acquisition and $5 million in capitalized cost. Street and sidewalk paving, new water lines and new electrical lines have contributed to another $5 million in related costs that will come from the budgets of affected Metro departments.

First Tennessee Ballpark has proven a challenge in other ways besides financially. Failure of the state of Tennessee to move quickly on construction of a 1,000-space, $18 million parking garage for the stadium has prompted Dean's office to unveil a temporary parking plan that will rely on shuttles, off-site parking and city buses to get people to and from the stadium.

Ward, Sounds principal owner since 2009, has remained optimistic that the ballpark will deliver despite the parking hurdle. As for the budget hiccup, he said he expects to sign a written agreement with Metro that outlines the team's $2 million commitment to cover stadium upgrades.

"We've had a good relationship with the city and the mayor's office in getting the facility accomplished," Ward said. "Some of the changes that we requested, they were nice enough to accommodate us and we're paying for those."

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.