Grizzly Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/25/dc-united-announce-long-awaited-plans-new-stadium-buzzard-point D.C. United announce long-awaited plans for new stadium in Buzzard Point July 25, 2013 Charles Boehm MLSsoccer.com WASHINGTON – The day D.C. United and their fans have been dreaming about for years may finally have arrived. United and Washington Mayor Vincent Gray announced on Thursday morning the signing of a $300 million public-private partnership to build a 20-25,000-seat soccer stadium in the Buzzard Point area of Southwest D.C., about a mile-and-a-half south of the US Capitol near the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. The new home of the four-time MLS Cup champions will be located adjacent to the Fort McNair Army base, bounded by Half Street and Second Street SW between R and T Streets a few blocks west of the Nationals Park baseball stadium, and is anticipated to be completed in time for the 2016 season. “We are proud to say that D.C. United has achieved a major milestone towards establishing a permanent, state-of-the-art home in Washington, D.C.,” United managing partner Jason Levien said in a club statement. “This is a significant step forward, and we are going to continue to work diligently and collaboratively with the Mayor’s office and the D.C. Council to expedite this process and make this stadium a reality.” READ: Has Detroit thrown its hat into the ring for MLS expansion? The costs of the project will be split evenly between United and the D.C. government, with the city funding the acquisition of the land and infrastructure costs and the club paying for the construction of the stadium itself. The arrangement is linked to a land swap between the District government and the current owners of the “site parcels” where the stadium will be built. D.C. will swap its Frank D. Reeves Center at 14th and U Streets NW (along with other city-owned property) and subsequently relocate government offices to a new municipal facility in the Anacostia neighborhood on the city's east side. “This is an exciting plan that moves the District forward in two areas about which I’m passionate — economic development, particularly in the East End of the District, and sports,” said Gray. “The new soccer stadium is the final piece in the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative puzzle that, when complete will create the most vibrant and sustainable sports-and-retail district in America.” Thursday's news is the biggest development in United's decade-long hunt for a home of their own, a quest marked by several false starts and disappointing setbacks. The Black-and-Red have not yet finalized the stadium's design, but have unveiled potential concepts and are evaluating them with respect to top soccer stadiums across the United States and beyond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marauder01 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Happy to see this, they've need it for a while and the fans have waited more than long enough. Should really create a better atmosphere then RFK did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Great to see taxpayers in hard-pressed Washington, D.C. giving hundreds of millions of dollars in public money away so a soccer team can play in a nicer building. Priorities right in line there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Great to see taxpayers in hard-pressed Washington, D.C. giving hundreds of millions of dollars in public money away so a soccer team can play in a nicer building. Priorities right in line there. Yeah... we never learn in North America, do we? Well, at least it went to a soccer stadium and not another sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squizz1402635577 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Great to see taxpayers in hard-pressed Washington, D.C. giving hundreds of millions of dollars in public money away so a soccer team can play in a nicer building. Priorities right in line there. You'll also be delighted to know that just-declared-bankruptcy Detroit is also going ahead with a new sports venue worth hundreds of millions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Glad it's downtown. Sounds like a nice away trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 You'll also be delighted to know that just-declared-bankruptcy Detroit is also going ahead with a new sports venue worth hundreds of millions. I am, indeed, thrilled to bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Crampton Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Great to see taxpayers in hard-pressed Washington, D.C. giving hundreds of millions of dollars in public money away so a soccer team can play in a nicer building. Priorities right in line there. You didn't read the articles, did you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 You didn't read the articles, did you? Yes I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Yup I call it "Lord Bob-ification" It started with Duane & it's spreading, unless it's Duane who's written this then it's intensifying Lord Bob-ification, there it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Crampton Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Yes I did. Look, I know that it might be harder out on the Left Coast where your politicians can't get OUT of the way of a privately financed stadium deal that would benefit the community but did you miss the part where the City of Washington's main role was organizing the land, preparing the site for development, and upgrading infrastructure to handle the stadium? They're not going to "spend" $150mil; the stadium is on DCU to finance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Look, I know that it might be harder out on the Left Coast where your politicians can't get OUT of the way of a privately financed stadium deal that would benefit the community but did you miss the part where the City of Washington's main role was organizing the land, preparing the site for development, and upgrading infrastructure to handle the stadium? They're not going to "spend" $150mil; the stadium is on DCU to finance. "In the agreement, several aspects of which have not been finalized and would require approval from the D.C. Council, the District and United would split the costs for the project, with the city providing about $150 million to assemble land and prepare the site and the team spending a similar amount building the stadium." http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mayor-gray-dc-united-reach-tentative-deal-on-soccer-stadium-for-buzzard-point/2013/07/24/b3c6594e-f315-11e2-ae43-b31dc363c3bf_story.html (my emphasis) "The city will pay $150 million to acquire the land for the stadium and improve infrastructure, raising money for the deal through a complicated series of land swaps, while the team will spend $150 million to build the structure." http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/mls/story/dc-united-city-agree-on-300-million-soccer-only-stadium-072513 (this one's the Associated Press; my emphasis again) This is not counting potential tax kickbacks, which aren't really costed out because the deal is still relatively vague. But, y'know, good job proving who did the reading on this one there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 This is not counting potential tax kickbacks, which aren't really costed out because the deal is still relatively vague. But, y'know, good job proving who did the reading on this one there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Crampton Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 raising money for the deal through a complicated series of land swaps, while the team will spend $150 million to build the structure." The city is putting together a package of land that can be used to for a specific development purpose and getting a $150 million investment from a private company in return. Targeted in an area that they want to spur redevelopment in. Could they just sell off those other pieces of land and let the market decide? Maybe... probably? But no one's racing to redevelop the area where the stadium will be right now, which evidently isn't exactly a booming area, so you'd get the development in those other areas and not see an extra $150mil investment and redevelopment in the area where the stadium will be. This way they get both. They'd be up the value of that land but it'd be a one time shot to the budget as they eat assets. That's dangerous in a different way. Edit: And providing roads and sewers? Yeah, I guess they shouldn't do that either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msilverstein47 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 http://dcist.com/2014/06/photos_dc_united_releases_new_rende.php#photo-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Great to see taxpayers in hard-pressed Washington, D.C. giving hundreds of millions of dollars in public money away so a soccer team can play in a nicer building. Priorities right in line there. It could be worse, they could be building a new concert hall or theatre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub Narcotic Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 This stadium is actually a relatively good deal for taxpayers, not only for the private contribution, but the public contribution is capped at $150M (estimate: $120M), which is land swap value, not cash. In addition, that's an area of D.C. ripe for development (right on the water, just south of the Capitol) that needs infrastructure in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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