The Change-Up

After two other camps pitched failed plans to purchase the former Price Cutter Park baseball stadium in Ozark, a brother-sister entrepreneur team and a political strategist have safely secured a deal.

On Aug. 10, business partners Jeff Williams, Wendi Taylor and Joel Benenson purchased OMS LLC, the stadium’s ownership company, from Chicago developer Horn Chen for $575,000. The minority partner, Benenson, is the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

That day in a special meeting of the city of Ozark’s board of aldermen, the new owners donated the “Duck Pond” stadium to the city. For the first time since its 1999 construction, the stadium and its 22 acres are part of a package deal.

“I think that was important to the city,” said OMS’ attorney, Brett Roubal of Baird Lightner Millsap PC. “It simplifies the process and solves the hanging issue of the 99-year lease that previously existed when Mr. Chen owned the stadium.”

Under the $600,000, 15-year lease-purchase agreement, OMS owes the city $1 per year for the first five years and $60,000 every year for the remainder. Ozark City Attorney David Collignon said an advantage of the new ownership structure is the city has the ability to market the entire property should OMS’ plans not materialize.

City ownership also means the real estate and improvements are not subject to property tax. Collignon said the property was initially considered tax-exempt and didn’t appear on Christian County assessor records until 2011. Chen paid for one of three year’s worth of back taxes to avoid an August tax sale, and the remainder of a nearly $20,000 tax bill will be paid by OMS and deducted from the final year’s payment under the new lease.

“Our long-term goal is to make money in that facility,” said new co-owner Williams, pointing to the first game plan: an independent league managed under the trio’s newly established U.S. Baseball League LLC.

With Taylor, the Oklahoma-based siblings have a 78 percent stake in OMS and U.S. Baseball League. They also co-own several corporations that operate grocery and convenience stores, real estate agencies and a medical clinic in the state.

Benenson, who could not be reached for comment, is the CEO and founder of New York-based Benenson Strategy Group. He has a 22 percent stake in both companies.

“We have every intention of playing independent baseball there, but that is just one avenue of what we plan on doing,” Williams said, noting they plan to market the stadium as a venue for college and junior leagues as well as concerts.

Negotiations
Bringing a baseball league to Ozark is a recently familiar proposition. Earlier this year, Ozarks Pro Baseball LLC and Heartland of America Baseball League LLC – which reportedly splintered over differences in the league model – entered into separate talks with the city and Chen. According to Brad Eldridge, Chen’s volunteer director of the stadium, Ozarks Pro Baseball intended to make an earnest deposit for an unspecified amount on the stadium purchase to Chen, but the money was never received.

Collignon said the company began paying the city $1,000 a month in April so the city would not market the acreage to another entity. Once the OMS deal was struck, Collignon said the city refused an August payment tendered by Ozarks Pro Baseball.

“It was only because they were in discussions with the individuals that held the lease for the land that the option was even contemplated,” Collignon said. “Once negotiations broke down, we were in a situation where we couldn’t enter into that lease without violating the existing lease with OMS.”

The new owners initially met because Williams’ and Benenson’s sons were in spring training together for the newly formed East Coast Baseball League. When the league needed backers, Williams said the two men, as part of a larger group, explored several investment opportunities before the talks dissolved.

“We basically said there was nothing available this year so we’ll stay in touch,” Williams said.

His son, Christopher, was later traded to the Heartland league and moved to the Springfield area to begin training. Not long after, both leagues vying for the Ducks stadium approached Williams as an investor.

“It was way too far gone, I guess, is a good word for it,” Williams said of the decision not to invest. “We decided to keep looking at it ourselves.”

Next investments
Williams insists U.S. Baseball League’s plans differ from previous groups because the investors already have put up capital through the purchase to prove their intent.

“Our plan is exactly the opposite starting direction – we bought the facility and paid cash for it,” Williams said. “They were trying to start a league and then buy the facility later on, if they could raise the money.

“That’s exactly the problem with independent baseball, when you get the cart before the horse.”

Before a league is considered, OMS is preparing a $1.5 million-$2 million budget for stadium renovations. The to-do list includes a visiting team locker room and installing a new sound system and scoreboard, but the No. 1 priority is the installation of Astroturf for which the company is soliciting bids.

In addition, Collignon said the last criteria to be fulfilled by OMS before the lease goes into effect is submission of a community improvement district proposal, which if approved by city aldermen would help reimburse improvement costs through a sales tax only applicable to the real estate and facility.

As for baseball operations, Williams anticipates a March 2016 start date.

“If the facility is not where we want it to be or we don’t have our ducks in a row, we’ll put it off until we can do this right,” he said.

“We have a lot of work to do before we get things where we want them to be.”