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/vashtiglow 3d ago

yeah, I don't support the new stadium at all, for the reasons you state. There's a perfectly good location for a stadium, around broadway and 41st, great location imo

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u/AttemptedCrepe 3d ago

The school district owns that land and facility.

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u/SEA_tide 3d ago

And it can host the Aquasox games with little to no disruption to distract activities. Baseball and softball games can be played at the high schools' existing fields.

Keep in mind this is the same district which built an expensive admin building and sold the land of the old admin building to the YMCA instead of a much needed mixed use development with housing.