Braves' new ballpark could be game-changer for industry

ATLANTA (AP) — The Braves' new ballpark looks like a throwback stadium with its green seats, brick walls and its old-school, intimate feel.

Atlanta's new SunTrust Park is part of a 60-acre complex that will include restaurants, retail shops, residential areas, a four-star hotel and a concert hall.

The $622 million ballpark is the main attraction, but it is only part of what the Braves are promoting as "the South's pre-eminent lifestyle destination" — The Battery Atlanta.

Manfred told The Associated Press he views the Braves' new mixed-use development as a "watershed" event for baseball, "like with Camden Yards in the early '90s."

Baltimore's Camden Yards created a wave of throwback stadiums in baseball when it opened in 1992.

"There has never been something this massive around a baseball stadium and it's really an amazing accomplishment," the commissioner said.

There are concerns about traffic issues in the new location, residents near Turner Field feel abandoned and not all residents helping pay for the new ballpark are happy about the tax incentives the Braves were given to move.

The first few home games will show if the Braves have adequately addressed the new traffic concerns at the busy interstate exchange in suburban Cobb County, which isn't served by Atlanta's rapid transit system.