MLS Crew Nearing Deal For New Practice Facility In Hilliard

Crew Nearing Deal For $19.5M Practice Facility

Hilliard, Ohio, has "emerged as the likely site of a $19.5[M]" practice facility for the MLS Crew and a central Ohio youth soccer complex, according to Pramik & Mitchell of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. Pizzuti Cos. Dir of Special Projects Shannon Hamons, whose company is repping the Crew in selecting a location for the project, said that a 150-acre parcel of land in Hilliard is "being considered for the project," and added that a decision "should be made by the end of June." The project would include indoor and outdoor practice fields for the Crew and "eight lighted fields for youth-league players." Hamons added that the Crew also is "considering locations in Columbus and Delaware County." The state this week "designated $500,000 in its two-year construction budget for the project to be built" in Hilliard, and the state "did not earmark money for the facility at any other site." Hilliard Mayor Don Schonhardt yesterday said that a "key is how funding will come together." Pramik & Mitchell note "tax increment financing is being considered to help pay" for the facility's infrastructure. Schonhardt said that the Hilliard site also would "include a building that would house the Crew's locker rooms and fitness facilities and include a sports medicine practice that would be open to the public" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/21).