Primary Partner In DC's Poplar Point Project Pulls Out Of Deal

Poplar Point Development  Could Include MLS Stadium

DC officials indicated that Maryland-based Clark Realty Capital (CRC), DC's primary partner in a proposed mixed-use development at Poplar Point, Friday "dropped out of the deal, citing risks in the struggling capital market," according to David Nakamura of the WASHINGTON POST. CRC last year won the right to "help the city create up to" $2.5B in development at the Poplar Point site, "a 110-acre swath of parkland in Ward 8, just across from" Nationals Park. The winning proposal "featured housing, offices, restaurants, a park, and, possibly, a soccer stadium for" MLS DC United. A government source said that CRC had "agreed to fund the construction in exchange for the right to sell off the developed parcels." But the source added that in light of the current economy, CRC asked DC "to fund the construction and pay Clark a fee to act solely as the builder." DC officials said that it appears the proposal for a 27,000-seat soccer stadium at the site, "which would cost as much as $225[M] in public money, has all but died, also because of the credit market crunch." Nakamura noted DC United co-Owner Victor MacFarlane "has not talked" with aides for DC Mayor Adrian Fenty "in months" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/31).