‘Sports teams help unlock community potential’

Article posted by Coliseum, May 22^nd, 2025

Image: Coliseum GSVA

James A. Renne knows the warp and woof of the real estate market and is an ace in tackling venue projects as well as mixed-use development – from vision to development programming, to land entitlement, to capitalization.

Full presentation available exclusively for Coliseum members

Username or Email

Password

Keep me signed in

Lost your password?

Renne works for JLL which is a real estate advisory services – “But I work with sports and entertainment, management and representative services. I am a Sports Architect for over 25 years and I am with JLL for the past six years. I am leading the practice primarily in America and also globally helping our clients manage the project from finance aside the bill to rationalizing economics to managing the design in construction of those facilities and mixed-use development.”

James A. Renne is a Senior Vice-President and National Sports Director at JLL with more than 25 years of experience in creating innovative sports and entertainment destinations and world- class athletic facilities. With his extensive sports planning and architecture experience Renne understands the multifaceted objectives of the stakeholders in the industry and works closely with his clients to make their vision a reality.

James A. Renne, AIA Americas Director, Sports and Entertainment, JLL, Mexico, in an in-depth conversation with ‘Coliseum’ states that JLL looks to diversify the fan experience and also serve the community that the sports team represents – “The various sports teams that we have been working for – the National Football League (NFL), the Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the National Basketball Association (NBA) all over the United States and also a couple of places in the world – unlocks the values of their respective communities.” He also asserts that in a real estate project creating an economic impact is vital.

JLL

Chicago (US)-based Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for its clients, the people and the communities.

JLL Feats

The JLL played a key role in the 41,084-capacity Truist Park project in Atlanta (US) – home of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Atlanta Braves – as well as in the Battery Atlanta project (a mixed-use development adjacent to the Truist Park). They provided comprehensive real estate advisory, transaction, financing, and development management services and Renne put in, “We negotiated all the joint venture (JV) partnerships and worked on the acquisition part and negotiating with the sellers.”

JLL also worked on the under transformation 105,000-capacity Spotify Camp Nou project in Barcelona, Spain, wherein JLL evaluated the bid proposals and provided feedback on the best proposal in terms of cost and time.

Project Shamrock (Jacksonville, Florida, US)

The Project Shamrock is a planned 15,000-seat multipurpose soccer stadium envisaged to anchor an entertainment district and large mixed-use development. The stadium will be home to the new Jacksonville men’s and women’s professional soccer teams and will be capable of hosting numerous other field and non-field events maximizing utilization of the stadium and return on investment (ROI). The stadium is proposed to be completed in Spring 2027.

States Renne, “There is a special needs component in this project because our client has a very strong desire to provide destination for sports, for people who are trained for the Special Olympics. So, part of the project is to provide service for that segment of the population. The other, of course, is to create value and that value creates real estate. It is compatible with sports. They are creating a transformational hub of commercial activity by revitalizing a 109-acre shopping mall site and the goal is to create a place to live-work-play. The community wants that it should improve the lives of the people and create jobs.”

Nuggets of Information

Remarked Renne, “JLL has a range of services – Location Consulting, Facility Negotiations, Project and Development Services, Mixed-use Execution, and Capital Markets. In project development we are managing the design of the structure of the facility and ensuring that as a team or collaborator we are achieving the purposes of the client as a team or an investor for the developer.”

He says that the mixed-use developments are the flavor these days – “Today the fans are looking beyond the sports facilities because for them it is not about just going to watch a game but spending quality time with their friends and family, shopping and relishing food in the eateries”.

Added Renne, “When you start a project the core anchor is the stadium. Not only the stadium but the whole entertainment district – restaurants and hotels. People want to stay in the hotels for the experience and some stay because there are two matches in a row or a concert the next day. It is a cool place to be.”

Wrap-up

James A. Renne wrapped up with a valuable piece of advice, “As investors we have to create a capital stack. The capital stack is what you are going to pay for the stadium, the infrastructure and the full development. That comes at a cost. The development usually takes time, we take time to view how the market evolves, how do we spend money or time for that investment and with that we have investors come on board over time.”

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.