The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community will use a U.S. stimulus loan program rather than bonds to provide part of the financing for a $100 million baseball spring training facility near Scottsdale.
The tribe opted to build the stadium with help from a $30 million loan from the U.S. tribal stimulus effort rather than $22.6 million in bonding authority offered under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The $100 million training complex will be the spring home for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball.
The tribe applied for $30 million of bonding capacity under the $1 billion first round of the $2 billion bond program. However, it received only $22.6 million of bonding authority, the maximum allowed under the program due to stronger-than-expected interest.
The tribe will instead borrow $30 million through the tax-exempt financing component of the tribal stimulus program. The bank that loans the money will receive federal tax incentives.
The tribal loan program once had a $10 million limit for loans to infrastructure projects, but the stimulus program increased the maximum to $30 million and removed most of the restrictions on the use of the money.
Salt River Vice President Martin Harvier said the remainder of the financing has not been determined, but it will not include tribal gambling revenue.
“The community is looking at a variety of financing options, including loans, Build America Bonds, and federal stimulus dollars,” Harvier said.
The complex will include an 11,000-seat stadium, 12 practice fields, and office and training facilities. Groundbreaking is set for November, with the training complex to be completed in January 2011.
