![]() ![]() Vana said she met with Josh Hirsh and Dave Demarest, who are with Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate and development consulting firm that helped the Braves find a new home in Cobb County. The Braves are considering all options in South Florida, including sites on both coasts, when their lease at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex expires in 2017. The next closest city is Tampa, an hour and 45 minutes away. When the new West Palm Beach complex south of 45th Street opens in 2017, the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland will be the only team within a reasonable drive of the Braves’ complex in Lake Buena Vista. The Nationals now train in Viera and the Astros in Kissimmee, two locations fairly close to the Disney complex Atlanta moved to in 1998 after training in West Palm Beach from 1962-1997. The county in October agreed to spend up $108 million in hotel tax revenue for a new stadium in West Palm Beach to be shared by the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros. It’s already done.’’’ She said one of the consultants replied that he wished he “would have gotten here sooner.’’ ![]() “They said, ‘What do you think about adding another team?’’’’ Vana said Friday, recalling the March 2 meeting at the county Governmental Center in downtown West Palm Beach. Two Atlanta real estate consultants who helped the team land a new Major League Baseball stadium deal in Georgia met with county mayor Shelley Vana last month to discuss the possibility of returning to the county for spring training. Nearly 20 years later, the Braves have reached out to the county about a possible return – an idea that would give the county five spring training teams but seems like a long shot for now. The last time the Atlanta Braves dealt with Palm Beach County, the team bolted for Walt Disney World after giving the tomahawk chop to a handshake deal to move their spring baseball operations to Jupiter. ![]()
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