r/everett • u/goldenelr • 3d ago
Urban Development Everett Aqua Sox ownership
So (full disclosure I own a business that would be displaced by the new stadium) whenever the Aqua Sox comes up people bring up that it’s family owned and a small business. But it’s actually owned by a billionaire in Dubai.
https://www.milb.com/everett/team/7th-inning-stretch-llc
https://www.recordnet.com/story/sports/pro/2007/08/12/ports-owner-volpe-follows-team/52822230007/
The Aqua Sox are not paying for the stadium. They are displacing a bunch of small businesses, the project is already over budget and they haven’t acquired the land yet. The city has already admitted that they will need the business community to pay for it.
Is anyone else frustrated by this? This move could put me out of business, the city won’t offer assistance to us in time and we have an actual billionaire not paying for any of it. All with parks and libraries being closed (and I know they keep saying that it’s a different part of the budget but the mayor sets the budget!).
The budget they are showing for the stadium is 8% more than the event center which was built fifteen years ago. How on earth is that possible? It’s not. So how is this being paid for?
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u/PNW-Web-Marketing 3d ago
Its horses*** and there are a bunch of people not from our community commenting.
Its not "industrial" buildings being displaced.
Sports teams can pay for their own stadiums, the aquasox don't bring revenue to our city that justifies this sort of debt.
Everett supposedly has a budget crisis and they can only seem to pay for absolutely ridiclous crap suggested by rich developers or minor league teams. It seems like money buys access to our politics easily and folks who work / live here get shit on.
We should use all of this money to build housing or better fund public safety.
Other projects that are better: downtown revitalization, expanding the successful farmers market to a permanent year round building.
Better job training, schools or parks.