Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers building spring-training housing for players in Arizona

Corrections & Clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect that both the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers are building housing for players.

When Major League Baseball players head home after a spring training game, most disperse to rental houses and hotel rooms across the Phoenix area.

Players for two teams may soon be able to drive across the street to a place many of them can call home.

The Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers are building housing complexes across the street from their spring training stadiums, in Goodyear and Surprise.

The Indians’ complex is well on its way, and will open by May, said Patrick Boyd, owner of Pro Housing and Boyd Communities, housing companies based in Arizona.

The Rangers received the final go-ahead from the city for their plan on March 5.

If the Indians' complex opens in May, the team will be the first of the 15 MLB teams that train in the Valley to build and own the housing where its players live, Boyd said.

For longtime Arizona baseball fans, this news may bring back memories of the Francisco Grande. The resort and baseball stadium in Casa Grande, with a baseball bat-shaped pool and catcher's mitt-shaped parking lot, was built for San Francisco Giants spring training by then-team owner Horace Stoneham in 1961.

The Giants now play at Scottsdale Stadium, but the resort is still there, a somewhat forgotten relic of Arizona's spring training past.

It might also stir up memories of Dodgertown, the old spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach, Florida. The Dodgers packed up and moved to Camelback Ranch-Glendale in 2008.

So why haven't other teams built permanent team homes here in metro Phoenix? Many MLB managers say they're comfortable with the temporary arrangements they have now.

Indians take the leap first

The Cleveland Indians started planning their new housing near Goodyear Ballpark two years ago, according to Boyd.

Ground has already been broken for the development, along South Wood Boulevard south of Lower Buckeye Parkway.

The complex will have 41 apartments, office space, a player lounge and a full kitchen.

It will house minor league players, along with staff.

Originally, the complex was meant to serve the Cincinnati Reds as well, Boyd said.

The Reds also train at Goodyear Ballpark, and the team rents out hotels in Glendale and Goodyear, said Nick Krall, the team's general manager.

Some of the team's major-league players have bought houses in Goodyear, Krall said.

Krall said everything would have to line up logistically and financially for a housing complex to work.

"It would be great," he said.

New home for the Rangers

The Rangers have shared Surprise Stadium with the Kansas City Royals since 2002.

Many Rangers players live in hotels near the stadium during spring training, said Jon Daniels, Rangers general manager.

The Arizona Republic spoke with Daniels and other Cactus League general managers about their teams' living situations at a media event earlier this month.

Some of the Rangers' major-league players stay at the Residence Inn, Daniels said, and some of the minor-league players stay at the Holiday Inn.

Many of the major-league players rent houses in Scottsdale, Arcadia or Paradise Valley, Daniels said. Some of the team's veterans own houses in Surprise.

The plan is to build a three-story, 36-suite, 70,000-square-foot team-housing complex along Bullard Avenue just north of Greenway Road in Surprise, with a 13,000-square-foot sports-training lab next door.

The Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission approved the site plan last week.

The Surprise City Council approved a final plat for the land on March 5. That's the final approval the Rangers need before they can pull full permits, according to Eric Fitzer, the city's community-development director. 

Minor-league players would move in

Even with the new complex, the team's major-league players will still be more inclined to rent a home of their own, Daniels said.

The complex would be a place the team would house minor-league players instead of getting them all hotel rooms. It would also have training space and room for team classroom sessions.

"Partially, this is to provide really good housing for our young players," Daniels said. "Partially, it's to have this facility where we can provide these additional services, the education piece and player development."

The facility would be used most of the year, for spring training and then for other leagues, said Scott Riley with investment firm Trident Partners, who represented the team in front of the city's planning commission.

It made financial sense for the team, Daniels said, "instead of paying hotel costs in perpetuity."

Having the new team home could be part of the sales pitch the team makes to incoming minor-league players and their families, he said. Parents of these younger players may like the idea of the team staying in a dorm-like environment.

Other teams uninterested

Other team officials for the Los Angeles Angels, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox say their teams haven't considered the idea.

Brewers players are scattered around the Valley, mostly in short-term rentals in Scottsdale or Paradise Valley, said General Manager David Stearns. 

Stearns said it's often the first time the team's younger players are away from home, so it's healthy for them to figure out how to live on their own.

"Having some separation from the work environment is pretty healthy," Stearns said.