Richmond EDA approves deal allowing VCU to play at CarMax Park, but agreement with Squirrels is still required

Despite the January breakdown of negotiations between VCU and the Flying Squirrels over use of Richmond’s new baseball stadium, Richmond’s Economic Development Authority is moving forward with a lease that will let the university play at the new CarMax Park. 

On Thursday, EDA Director Angie Rodgers said there had been “positive conversations” between VCU and Navigators Baseball, the parent company of the Squirrels. 

“It seems like the two parties are coming back together,” she told the authority’s board of directors before they voted to approve a lease agreement with VCU. 

The agreement approved by the EDA Thursday notes that the earlier lease between the Navigators and the city included mention of a separate lease with VCU and a provision stating that the Navigators would “negotiate in good faith with VCU to enter into a separate operating and use agreement.” 

EDA officials said the VCU lease would be conditioned on the university and the Navigators reaching a use agreement. 

“Is there a risk, then, that the Navigators, who seem to not want VCU there, will simply not reach agreement and thus prevent the VCU lease from ever commencing?” asked board member Evan Feinman. 

“I mean, I think we don’t control a third party,” responded Lindsey Chase, an attorney for the city. If that occurred, she added, “I think there would be a regrouping.” 

A Squirrels spokesperson didn't respond to questions about Thursday's developments. A VCU spokesperson emailed a statement reiterating the school's commitment to the Diamond District project.

"VCU is committed to working with all of the parties involved on a plan that allows the entire project to succeed," the spokesperson wrote. "That starts with celebrating Opening Day for the Squirrels next month."

The lease approved Thursday is “consistent with how this project has been envisioned all along,” said Rodgers, who emphasized that the EDA owns CarMax Park and intends for both the Flying Squirrels and VCU to play there. 

Despite her assertion, the lease has been a sticking point in negotiations over the first phase of the Diamond District, a massive redevelopment of 67 acres east of Arthur Ashe Boulevard that will eventually include not only the baseball stadium but housing, offices and commercial spaces. 

The construction of the first phase, including CarMax Park, is being financed with $130 million in bonds issued by the city. Richmond expects to repay the bond debt using revenues generated by new development on the site but is missing one crucial piece: the Sports Backers Stadium that sits adjacent to the former Diamond and is owned by VCU. 

VCU has also not reached a final agreement with the Navigators to use CarMax Park, which the baseball club will operate. The university, along with the Squirrels and the city, signed ceremonial commitments this October that laid out the sale of Sports Backers Stadium to the EDA and specified VCU would lease CarMax Park for $410,000 per year. 

But this January, the Navigators announced that they had “ended discussions and have accepted that VCU will not be joining us at CarMax Park.”

The situation further deteriorated in February, when the Navigators sent the city a letter threatening legal action after Sharon Ebert, Richmond’s deputy chief administrative officer for planning and economic development, told a City Council committee that Richmond might have to craft its own operating agreement with VCU to let the university use the stadium. 

In their letter, the Navigators characterized that statement as “reckless” and “shocking,” saying that any attempt by Richmond to strike its own deal with VCU for CarMax Park use would violate the lease the city already has with the baseball club.  

The group demanded that “the EDA refrain from any attempt to enter into an agreement with VCU regarding its use of the Stadium.” 

“Should the EDA proceed down any other path, the Navigators will have no choice but to pursue all available legal remedies to protect their interests under the Stadium Lease,” they continued. 

Other approvals

The EDA also signed off Thursday on an agreement that will allow Diamond District Partners — the developers of the larger project — to begin working on the Sports Backers Stadium site in advance of a signed contract.

The agreement states that the EDA ultimately intends to acquire the title from VCU.

In a final vote, the authority also agreed to amend the stadium development agreement between the city and the Navigators to increase the EDA’s contribution from roughly $114 million to $120 million. 

Rodgers said the changes were “an effort to paper commitments that have been made to them verbally or otherwise.”

In their February letter, the Navigators said Richmond had failed to pay an expected $6.5 million of the costs of developing CarMax Park, including $2.5 million to fit out the stadium for VCU’s use. The team also strenuously objected to an account offered by Richmond in a January letter outlining the city’s financial obligations, which the Navigators described as “revisionist history.” 

The Richmonder requested a copy of that letter on Feb. 26 under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. On March 5, a city representative said it was “not practically possible” to provide the document within the five-day window set by FOIA “due to limited staff capacity” and invoked its ability to take up to seven more days to deliver it. 

Rodgers acknowledged that the city had agreed to pay for the VCU work but said the parties had not updated the formal agreement to reflect that commitment. 

The amendments will allow the EDA to draw from $4 million budgeted for potential environmental cleanup during construction that wasn’t ultimately needed. 

While the EDA’s maximum contribution to the project will increase, Rodgers told the EDA the overall project cost will not.  

“This is all within the amount that was bonded for the stadium, so there is no additional money the city needs to come up with,” she said. 

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org. Editor Michael Phillips contributed to this report. VCU is a sponsor of The Richmonder but was not allowed to influence or review this story.