Thursday, June 12, 2014

Vinik Gobbling Up More Downtown Tampa Land; Still Not Building a Stadium

Richard Mullins had a story in this morning's Tampa Tribune (couldn't find the link online) about Jeff Vinik's attempt to buy a few small parcels sitting in the middle of his budding empire in Downtown Tampa. 

These stories always get the Rays-to-Tampa crowd excited, but we must always remember - Vinik is a businessman and a developer first.  It takes a special kind of owner (namely, one willing to lose a lot of money or at least "play the lottery" with hundreds of millions of dollars) to build a stadium on his/her own dime.

9 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 14, 2014 at 12:52 PM

    "These stories always get the Rays-to-Tampa crowd excited, but we must always remember", let's not be "naive", he knows (unlike the public or media) what the future is of the Rays. He's not building around ConAgra just because...

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    1. Noah PranskyJune 15, 2014 at 8:22 AM

      Or, he's building there because Downtown Tampa property values are soaring even without baseball....

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    2. UnknownJune 18, 2014 at 4:55 PM

      If you had to "bet the farm" on which statement is more right, which one would you bet? Yup, thinking Jeff is building just because of the market, and doesn't know what the Rays plans are is naive thinking...

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    3. UnknownJune 18, 2014 at 4:56 PM

      Though it is probably cheaper then it will be later to do what he needs to do...

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    4. Noah PranskyJune 21, 2014 at 6:08 PM

      I would bet the farm Vinik does not want to build a baseball stadium that would compete with his hockey team.

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    5. UnknownJune 23, 2014 at 4:36 PM

      ? Hockey competing against baseball, lol! Like the leagues won't know what to do during the only 2 weeks in April where the schedules over lap...
      And thinking about it, the flip side of "negative Noah" ideology, the two franchises becoming neighbors would put Channelside on the map worldwide, along w/ what all else suppose to be built around it. It's like saying Wal-Mart would never work because people would only buy 1 type of stuff, groceries or retail stuff, which we know America loves Wal-Mart because it has everything at one spot...
      Regardless, like it or not, the ball is beginning roll on Channelside w/ 2 (yes 2) major sports franchise as the anchors year round...

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    6. Noah PranskyJune 25, 2014 at 9:34 AM

      OK Dufala.

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    7. AnonymousJune 25, 2014 at 4:32 PM

      For what it's worth, Mr. Pransky, your patience and composure here in the comment sections is appealing.

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    8. UnknownJuly 2, 2014 at 12:07 PM

      Oha Noah, we got cheerleaders now?! lol Great opinion on the topic "Anonymous"... lol
      Though I do agree w/ "Anonymous", I'm assuming he isn't from a speak your mind city like Pittsburgh or Bahstun like us... lol

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