Sunday, January 27, 2008

So, Where Do We Stand...?

By Chris Pittman

Are things going well right now, or are they going bad? Is PG County devoting $75,000 dollars to stadium surveying good, or bad? I'm really having a hard time measuring our chances of success at Poplar Point right now. Jonetta Rose Barras seems pretty sure a deal will be made in the near future. Here's an excerpt from her blog...

Government sources say Fenty and his deputy mayor for planning and economic development, Neil Albert are poised to announce later this week the selection of the developer for Poplar Point. Their proposal of choice includes a soccer stadium, say sources. Two of four developers who presented last month their plans for the southeast site have included a stadium: Archstone-Smith, Madison/Marquette and Clark Realty.

Poplar Point development has been controversial since last summer when Fenty ended negotiations with
Victor MacFarlane, a developer and part owner of D.C. United soccer team. MacFarlane had thought he had an agreement that his company would have exclusive development rights because of discussions he had with former Mayor Anthony A. William. Not so said Fenty. And the game was on to find a developer.

Ward 8 Council member Barry and others in the community were angry over Fenty’s move, believing that a stadium would not be in the mix. But the plans submitted by proposed developers proved otherwise.
TBR could not determine which developer was actually chosen. Deputy Mayor Albert could not be reached for comment.

We now know that the timeline of her information is most definitely incorrect (since this was written on the 6th of this month), but one thing can be said of JR Barras, she knows her stuff. I don't see her writing that and being completely off-base. There has to be some truth to it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

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