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Time ticking by for Prim
He is unlikely to secure financing by city deadline, people close to deal say
Journal photo by David Rolfe
Unfinished stands loom over weeds growing on the field of Winston-Salem’s downtown ballpark, in an Aug. 11 photo.
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Published: September 17, 2009
Updated: 09/17/2009 12:30 am
The financing agreement for the half-finished downtown ballpark is not likely to close by Monday, the deadline set by the Winston-Salem City Council, people involved with the deal said yesterday.
If the deal does not close by the deadline, the council will have to decide whether to give stadium developer Billy Prim and his investors more time, or to pull back almost $15 million in city financing.
Prim also owns the Winston-Salem Dash, the minor-league team that will play in the new ballpark.
Prim said yesterday that the deal is not finished because the parties and lawyers involved have not agreed on final wording for some of the legal documents needed for closing.
The parties involved include the city of Winston-Salem, Prim's development companies, Prim himself, and a group of private investors whose names have not been disclosed. City Manager Lee Garrity said yesterday that the private investors include both individuals and community organizations.
He also said that the city is not responsible for the holdup.
"We are completely done with everything that the city needs to do -- all the documents related to the city are complete, are done, are drafted," Garrity said. "This still continues to be an issue between the developer and his private investors."
The city's piece of the deal is a $12.7 million loan that will help pay off construction work that already has been finished and will help pay back the bank that lent money for the land. In exchange for providing the loan, the city will own the ballpark and lease it back to Prim's companies.
Prim's development companies are borrowing $15 million to help pay for finishing the ballpark. Private investors have pledged $3.7 million to help pay for the ballpark.
Prim said he hopes to be able to tell the city council on Monday when the deal might close.
"I'd like to be able to give them a full update," he said. "I can say there's been a lot of progress made in the last few days on it, and I think we're getting very close to a closing date."
The stadium is projected to cost $48.7 million, including land. Earlier this year, Prim's development companies fell behind in their payments to both the bank that lent money for the land on which the stadium is being built and to the construction companies that are building the ballpark.
When that happened, construction stopped.
Prim said earlier this year that he could not finish the ballpark on his own, and asked the city for additional help. Prim said he needed another $27.7 million to pay both for work that already been done and to pay off a lien to the bank that had lent money for the land.
Construction workers are owed about $10 million for work that has already been done.
In 2007, when Prim first announced plans to build the ballpark, the city contributed $12 million to help pay for construction.
Construction crews have said that they need another 160 to 180 days to complete the ballpark. According to the terms of the 2007 agreement between Prim's development companies and the city, the stadium must be finished by March 31, 2010.
City Attorney Angela Carmon said that if the ballpark is not finished by then, the city could sue Prim's development companies. The city could not sue Prim personally.
But, Carmon said, if the deal does not close, the bank that owns the land for the stadium would likely foreclose, sending the property to auction.
Prim said he believes that the deal will close, and said he is not worried about the time constraints for construction.
"I think we've got plenty of time," he said.
"The only issue here is that we're trying to get all parties to agree on the language that is stated in the documents," Prim said.
"That's the only issue. It's not about money."
lgraff@wsjournal.com
727-7279
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