Rendering of the proposed development.
Developers of a proposed $200-million destination youth sports and hotel complex in Sandwich should know within a matter of days whether their idea is a business home run or a literal field of dreams.
The partnership proposing the ambitious for-profit complex – which includes Boston developer John Hynes, former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, Boston restaurateur Mark Manning, former hockey star Christopher Drury and Falmouth commercial real estate executive Robert Clark – are awaiting a consulting group’s report on the feasibility of building an array of athletic facilities and hotels modeled loosely on the Cooperstown Dreams Park in New York.
Hynes, who is chief executive of Boston Global Investors, said he and his partners are reasonably sure a baseball complex – which would attract pre-college youths and their families to baseball tournaments and camps, staying as long as a week in two new planned hotels at the site – can be financially profitable through four months of the year on Cape Cod.
The big question is whether a mega-complex can attract enough business during the other eight months of the year –fall, winter and early spring – by offering athletic venues for tournaments and camps f or indoor hockey, swimming, track-and-field and other sports often hosted by youth leagues such as the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
In recent months, the development partnership, known as R.P. Clark Consulting LLC, released tentative conceptual plans to build seven sports fields, two hockey rinks, swimming pools, a gymnasium, a 100,000-square-foot field house that could be converted into a conference center, and 300 rooms contained in two hotels, one of which could also have a spa. The complex might also include a small amount of retail.
The complex would be built on 56 acres of town-owned land just off Route 6 in Sandwich, known as the “Golden Triangle,” now a largely vacant property except for two Pop Warner fields tucked into one corner. The land sits behind a Stop & Shop Supermarket and small strip mall.
The partnership has already secured a $750,000 purchase-and-sale agreement to buy the property from the town, contingent on the developers getting necessary permits and financing and overcoming other obstacles.
“It could be a game-changer,” said Hynes, who graduated from Chatham High School and became involved in the venture via friends. “I’m pretty excited about the project.”
But the first hurdle is finding out whether the project is financially viable. And that’s what the developers’ consultants, Sports Facility Advisors of Florida, are expected to address in their report, due Oct. 1, Hynes said.
“The challenge is raising revenue outside the summer months,” said Hynes, adding that filling the two planned hotels year-round is key.
If it turns out that some or all of the year-round sport venues are not viable, then developers may have to dramatically scale back plans, he said.
Concerns About Traffic, Wastewater
George “Bud” Dunham, the town manager in Sandwich, acknowledged neighborhood concerns about traffic and wastewater issues. Some residents have also grumbled that the town is selling the property at too low of a price.
But he said there’s general support in Sandwich for a $200-million project that could boost town property tax revenues and spur business elsewhere in Sandwich during non-summer months.
“The town has been trying to find a positive use for this land for a while,” said Dunham. “Among town officials, there’s a lot of support for this idea. But right now, it’s all still conceptual. We’re anxious to hear back from the developers about their feasibility study.”
One big plus so far: The Cape Cod Commission, the powerful regional planning board on the Cape, has signed a “two-party development agreement” with the private partnership to explore and possibly pursue some sort of year-round sports complex.
However, assuming the project is deemed financially viable, another huge hurdle is building a wastewater treatment plant on the site, costing anywhere from $2.5 million to $5 million, to comply with federal environmental orders that the Cape address its severe wastewater problems. Developers believe they can address the wastewater issue.
Wendy Northcross, chief executive of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, said her organization’s members are enthusiastic about any new development that might attract visitors and business during non-summer months. The chamber recently commissioned a study that found a year-round sports complex would indeed attract visitors, though the report also concluded paying for infrastructure improvements could be daunting.
The proposed complex is ultimately the brainchild of Clark, the Falmouth partner and developer who has been heavily involved with Cape Cod Little League and other baseball activities on the Cape.
“I’ve been working on this idea for four years,” Clark said, noting a recent trip to Cooperstown Dreams Park sparked his imagination about building a similar youth-sports complex on the Cape.
He declined to estimate when construction might start, noting the numerous financial and permitting hurdles that still must be overcome. “There are a lot of moving parts to this,” he said. “But we’re optimistic.”
