‘Bullettproof Baseball’ staying at Welland fairgrounds despite rent increase

After calling a sudden tripling of its rent unfair, a Niagara baseball training facility ‘Bullettproof Baseball’ has agreed to the increase and signed a new five-year lease.

Bullettproof Baseball is staying at Welland’s fairgrounds for another five years,
despite owner Scott Bullett’s feeling that a three-fold increase in the rent is unfair.

“We had no choice, we had to have a home for our kids to play,” Bullett said.

The Niagara Regional Agricultural Society informed Bullett a few months ago that the rent would go up by about $130,000 per year if he renewed his lease.

The new amount is based on a new property assessment, but Bullett said that big of an increase so suddenly would be near impossible for any business to pay.

The lawyer for the Niagara Regional Agricultural Society, Clark Peddle, said “the problem is we had an expert’s report that said that was the minimum that we could get for the place so really we could have rented it for more than that perhaps.”

Peddle said the society’s board has a legal obligation to get as much as they can, but they made a small concession.

Bullettproof Baseball said in the first two years, the rent goes up by $104,000 per year. In the third and fourth years, it goes up by $118,000 per year, before the full $130,000 per year increase kicks in for year five.

Bullett said he is looking for a new location because there is no renewal option.

Peddle said the board is open to Bullett staying longer, but the contentious negotiations have soured things with some of Bullett’s staff.

“In terms of Scott, I don’t think that’s an issue, in terms of dealing with some of these other people, yes, that’s going to be difficult to repair that relationship,” Peddle said.

Bullett said the board didn’t treat him well: “We [have] been here the longest, supporting them the longest and it seems like we are at the bottom of the totem pole.”