The DC Council yesterday voted "to approve a stadium" for DC United, "probably ending the team’s decade-long search for a new home," according to a front-page piece by DeBonis & O'Connell of the WASHINGTON POST. The unanimous vote was "an unexpected show of support for the project, which had exposed political fault lines." The plan is "expected to cost the District at least" $150M in direct investment and $43M in forgone tax revenue. The MLS venue deal "benefited from the project’s relatively modest scale, the desire to kick-start development in a gritty industrial zone, and the team’s willingness to bear" roughly $150M in costs of building the stadium itself -- which is set to be the "most expensive" MLS facility proposed to date. The 20,000-seat facility in the Buzzard Point area of Southwest DC "remains on track" to open for the '17 season. The Council is set to take a final vote on Dec. 16, and while the team "might fight for additional concessions," there is "little expectation that the agreement will collapse." DC United Managing General Partner Jason Levien said, "I feel good about where we’re at right now. We’re not ready to celebrate, by any means. We’ve got 14 critical days here to be constructive about making the deal even better." DeBonis & O'Connell report the proposal "calls for community improvements beyond the stadium, including ... the creation of a 'workforce intermediary' to match stadium-area residents with project jobs." The council "plans to start paying for the project in the current budget cycle by borrowing" $62M and reshuffling $37M in existing capital projects. Additional costs "will be borne in future budgets." Although DC United lost more than $5M this year, the team "could become profitable with a new stadium." Levien "remained displeased, however, that the council had removed a sales tax abatement worth an estimated" $7M (WASHINGTON POST, 12/3).
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: In DC, Steven Goff wrote among the most "daunting, enduring and frustrating" challenges of MLS Commissioner Don Garber's tenure has been getting a new stadium for DC United. MLS' "first on-field dynasty had become an off-field drag to the blossoming league." Garber: "I don’t think there has been a project that we, as an enterprise, have worked longer on through many, many starts and stops than getting a stadium deal done in DC. ... It will be transformational for our league." Garber said that he had spoken with Levien, who was "the point man on the stadium proposal, every day for 10 days." Garber: “Jason has done an incredible job. He has been laser-focused on trying to build consensus and do a deal that would be good for the District, good for ownership, and ultimately soccer in America will benefit." Goff noted under the planned proposal, DC United would join 11 other MLS clubs "that have moved into medium-sized venues" since '99. The days of "renting space in stadiums built for the NFL are almost gone." Garber: "One of the real legacies of this generation is that we have built a foundation for the sport with bricks and mortar that has changed the soccer narrative in our country." Goff wrote if this proposal had "failed to gain momentum -- and if, by chance, it collapses in the coming weeks or months -- United would have to consider leaving the nation’s capital." The club "has been in the red since its birth" in '96 (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 12/2).
