Redevelopment agency reaches out to advisory firm on ballpark

Company has plenty of experience developing around other stadiums

PAWTUCKET — The Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency has tabbed a New York City-based real estate development firm, with experience in the development of ballparks around the country, to advise city officials on ancillary development projects around the proposed downtown Pawtucket Red Sox stadium.

The Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency, or PRA, voted to engage Sterling Project Development to help prepare for the potential for development around the proposed “Ballpark at Slater Mill” and throughout Pawtucket’s downtown, according to Commerce Director Jeanne Boyle.

According to the Sterling Project Development website, the company is a full-service development management and advisory firm with international experience, and is currently involved in over $12 billion of development projects throughout the United States and Europe. SPD is an affiliate of Sterling Equities, a real estate developer based in New York and its

ownership group has experience with baseball, as it also owns and operates the New York Mets.

Among the ballpark-related projects Sterling Project Development has been associated with includes development and construction of the Mets’ ballpark – Citi Field, in Queens, N.Y.; Target Field in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Twins; First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla., the spring training ballpark for the Mets; MCU Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., the home of the Mets’ minor-league affiliate; and and master planning of Willets Point, a five-million square-foot mixed-use development on 110 acres surrounding Citi Field.

According to a Feb. 5 article in The New York Times, Willets Point is a $3 billion project that will morph an area in Queens near Citi Field into 1,100 apartments for low- and moderate-income residents, a 450-seat school, open space, and retail.

Boyle in a letter to City Councilors on Friday said that Sterling will be assisting by “helping with project goals, development of land- use scenarios, identifying opportunities for private investment, and other services, as well as making project recommendations. Their national and international experience will give the PRA an edge, and will only serve to improve the outcome for everyone.”

The project will still be led by the PRA, Boyle said.

“The PRA is extremely optimistic about Sterling’s proposal, citing their insight and ideas on how the existing groundwork in Pawtucket can be built upon,” Boyle wrote. “The PRA is confident that Sterling’s experience with attracting large scale development and previous ballpark work will be the best fit for redeveloping the City of Pawtucket.”

In additional sports-related development projects, Sterling also had a hand in the development and construction of Titletown in Green Bay, Wis., a 600,000 square-foot mixed-use development adjacent to Lambeau Field, which includes a public park, ice skating rink and tubing hill, hotels, sports medicine and orthopedics clinics, restaurants, and a brewery.

The PawSox have committed to develop 50,000 square feet around the ballpark by the end of the first year in the new stadium, which officials say will accelerate other development projects in the immediate area.

Mayor Donald R. Grebien expressed excitement at the potential that exists in working with Sterling Project Development.

“We’re fired up and ready to go,” the mayor said via email. “I’ve had the opportunity to review the presentations and speak with members of the evaluation team, and it’s clear that Sterling is all in on Pawtucket.”

“They see the value and they’re ready to help us make the Ballpark at Slater Mill an incredible success for Pawtucket, the Blackstone Valley,b and all of Rhode Island. Sterling has a great record working on development projects that serve as centerpieces of revitalization and energizeN cities,” Grebien said. “We look forward to working with the PRA and Sterling to move our great city forward. I am hopeful that the House of Representatives will see the value of this project and provide us with authorization before the end of their session.”