Negotiators ‘extremely close’ on Chattanooga’s first community benefits agreement, Lookouts say

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Among those seeking a community benefits agreement from the Lookouts stadium deal is Chattanoogans in Action for Love, Equality and Benevolence, which hosted a nonpartisan celebration for National Voter Registration Day at East Lake Park in September. Those not old enough to register colored pictures with the theme of "Together we are strong.”

Eyeing construction of a new sports arena built partially with public funds in 2016, the Milkwaukee Bucks entered into a legally binding contract with the community: By 2023, the minimum wage for janitors, ushers, food service workers and others would be $15 an hour, which would continue to increase annually at a rate tied to inflation.

Additionally, a significant percentage of hires would come from ZIP codes with high unemployment or underemployment, a term that describes people working involuntarily part-time or earn a wage below the cost of living.

In 2018, when Major League Soccer expanded to Nashville, community groups insisted a new soccer stadium and the associated development come with a series of expectations. Stand Up Nashville negotiated a community benefits agreement with Nashville Soccer Holdings -- Tennessee's first -- that mandated 20% of all housing units to be reserved as affordable or workforce housing. It also required the company to pay stadium workers at least $15.50 an hour and to set aside square footage for child care, local artisans and small businesses.

​Now, as Chattanooga and Hamilton County officials hammer out a final deal to cover the cost increase for a new multiuse baseball stadium for the minor league Lookouts, an official with the team said he's hopeful the approximately 18-month negotiations on an associated community benefits agreement are nearing a resolution.

"I think we're extremely close," Jason Freier, CEO of Lookouts owner Hardball Capital, said in an interview.

The members of the South Broad Community Benefits Coalition:— South Chattanooga Community Association.

• Community Association of Historic St. Elmo.
• Mary Walker Towers resident council.
• The Bethlehem Center.
• Chattanooga Building Trades.
• Chattanooga Area Labor Council.
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 175.
• Iron Workers Local 704.
• Green Spaces.
• Service Employees International Union Local 205.
• Chattanoogans in Action for Love, Equality and Benevolence.

Geoffrey Meldahl, a member of the community group Chattanoogans in Action for Love, Equality and Benevolence, said negotiators have been forthright that they are not interested in this deal being window dressing.

"This has to be a substantial agreement that makes a real material difference in the lives of Chattanoogans or nothing at all," Meldahl said in an email.

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