Ryan Cowan head groundskeeper prepares to water the field for baseball at Mavericks Stadium in Adelanto on Wednesday afternoon. he City of Adelanto recently rejected an offer to sell the stadium and is hoping the current ownership of the Mavericks can increase activity and new events to the stadium
ADELANTO — City officials rejected a buyer's $1.6 million cash offer to purchase Mavericks Stadium in January, citing wishes to continue to build up activity at the baseball park, according to a city memo obtained by the Daily Press.
The offered amount would likely cover the majority of the city's $1.7 million deficit this year. However, officials remain mum on why they have not wanted to sell it. Messages left with new Mayor Rich Kerr for comment last week were not immediately returned.
At the time of the offer, City Manager Jim Hart told real estate brokers Joseph W. Brady and Lidia Talavera that the City Council wanted to wait six months to see if they could develop more activities at the stadium with the High Desert Mavericks minor-league baseball team.
"He had a conversation with the Adelanto City Council and they wanted to wait," Brady said. "As a result they needed to reject the current offer and not make a counter offer at this point. Jim was very professional. I enjoyed dealing with him."
Brady said the buyer who made the offer wishes to remain anonymous, and that he was interested in using the stadium for specific uses that he could not disclose.
"Our buyer is aware of that (Mavericks) agreement," Brady said of the city's lease agreement with the baseball team, which is a Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. "Although there is that agreement, there's always the opportunity to refine the agreement, and make the outcome better for both parties. We wanted to sit down, eyeball to eyeball with Mavericks, and really see what the long-term play is. Our buyer wants to make sure that the stadium is used all of the time."
Brady seemed befuddled about why the fiscally challenged city would reject what he believed was a solid offer.
"I think it's more than a fair offer," he said. "I think this offer could help buy the city of Adelanto more time to try to fix its financial problem, but the offer to fix the stadium is not a cure-all for their structural deficit. It's the same problem that Victor Valley College has. They’ve got a structural problem."
Former Adelanto Mayor Cari Thomas said she believes the reason the Council is hesitant to sell is because she believes the stadium carries intrinsic value in the community.
"I personally feel that the stadium has value," she said. "It doesn't have monetary value but it's all the city really has. It's the entertainment (for Adelanto). It's nice to say we have a ballpark. It's just, for the past 25 years, it has been a staple in Adelanto. The thought it can be gone..."
The city constructed Mavericks Stadium in 1991 for $6.5 million, using municipal redevelopment bonds. In its heyday the High Desert team led California League in attendance with sellout games, but in recent years numbers have waned. New team owners have pledged to get it back to its glory days.
The city has spent $2 million over the past 24 years on the stadium's upkeep and maintenance, which ends up being a drain on the General Fund each year to the tune of $50,000 to $150,000, Hart said previously.
Thomas is concerned that a buyer might choose to end their contract with the Mavericks or make it so they can't afford the lease. Currently, the team pays just $1 to rent the facilities from the city in exchange for upkeep of the field. And the team's current contract is valid until at least 2016, according to Mavericks General Manager Ben Hemmen.
Thomas said recent events at the stadium, including the Grand Prix, have not proven profitable for
the team due to maintenance and other overhead costs.
"As long as the city and everyone is going to have us we plan to stay here in the area," Hemmen said. "We enjoy the High Desert. For right now, we’re just excited to be in this stadium and we’re ready to rock this year and continue our relations in 2016. No matter who the landlord is, the tenant for 2015-16 is High Desert Mavericks."
Hemmen said the team's push this year is to boost attendance and provide "family, fun, affordable entertainment" the whole region can enjoy. He said sometimes events they host are for financial gain and other times they're simply to bring more people to the ballpark.
Councilman Jermaine Wright said he supported the decision to sell the stadium, but was outvoted by the Council colleagues.
"It's a majority wins," he said. "I believe we should have exercised all options and made a counter offer. I was outvoted and I lived with that. I truly believe that's an option that should have been on the table."
He also claims the baseball team owes the city up to two years of parking fees, which the two agencies have contracted to split 50-50. For that reason, Wright claims the team is out of compliance with its lease, opening the door for a renegotiation of the generous terms.
"Mavericks owes the city of Adelanto money and we have not seen that money yet," he said. "We’ve never received any money from parking. There's many things that (the) Mavericks need to open up their books about so we can see what's going on. At some point we're going to have to do something about it. As far as I'm concerned they’re in breach with their contract and we should terminate the contract. But once again, it's a majority vote."
Hemmen would not confirm or deny that the team owed the city money. He simply said no one from the city has formally approached the Mavericks about renegotiating their lease.
"No one from the city or the Council has ever come to the Mavericks and asked us to renegotiate the lease or sit down and create a new lease," he said. "But in the event that they did, we would suggest that the newspaper is not the appropriate place for those negotiations."