New $144M Ballpark of The Palm Beaches for Astros, Nationals

A whole lot of baseball will soon be coming to West Palm Beach, Florida. Construction of a new 160 acre spring training facility for the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros began this week with a major league celebration for the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

The new $144 million complex will be located at 45th Street between Military Trail and Haverhill Road in West Palm Beach.

The new stadium, which will hold 6,400 people, is expected to be ready for the 2017 baseball season and will be shared by both Major League teams.

Major League Baseball officials and Palm Beach County leaders celebrated the groundbreaking for the $144 million stadium slated to bring the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals to West Palm Beach for spring training beginning in 2017.

“I think these are two really appealing teams; they’ll draw well and be great competition to the existing teams in the area," Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.

The ceremonial ground breaking diamond was packed with clay from the county's existing spring training stadium in Jupiter, where the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals play.

The doubling the number of local spring training teams, and the tourism boost that could bring, was hailed by local business leaders and other baseball backers as the chief selling point for building a second stadium.

The project calls for the county to pay about half of the stadium's cost, with the state and the teams paying the rest. Estimated construction costs are already expected to go beyond the $144 million forecast, with the teams required to cover the difference. Also, borrowing money to pay for construction could end up elevating the cost to about $233 million.

Of that, the county is projected to pay $116 million, with at least $67 million coming from the teams and $50 million from the state.

In addition to the stadium to be shared by the teams, plans include building separate training facilities for the Astros and Nationals along with a new city park that includes community sports fields that would double as spill-over parking during Spring Training.

The early work involves cleaning up the old yard waste dump site, which is expected to cost about $15 million.

Washington Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner the stadium construction would be "ensuring strong economic growth on this property," expected to benefit the surrounding community.

Along with getting state funding for the stadium deal, officials had to persuade the Florida Legislature to ease restrictions on the proposed building site. That involved lawmakers agreeing to shrink a protective zone on the southern portion of the property bordering a canal that helps supply city drinking water.

"I look forward to watching a game there soon," Gov. Rick Scott said in a video shown at the groundbreaking.

The county's share of the stadium cost is to be paid with taxes currently levied on hotel stays and dedicated to spending on tourism-related efforts.

Adding two new Major League Baseball teams will boost tourism and make it easier to keep the Marlins and Cardinals from leaving for other spring training destinations.