3/5/08: The Washington Post - Soccer Stadium Update: Calling United's Bluff

Mayor Adrian Fenty very much wants to keep the D.C. United soccer franchise in the District, but he does not consider a soccer stadium nearly as powerful an engine of economic development as the Washington Nationals' new ballpark on the Southeast waterfront. And the mayor seems unfazed by the mating dance between United's owners and Maryland politicians about moving the team to Prince George's County.

"I don't think they really want to go to Maryland," Fenty tells me.

The mayor says he is committed to examining proposals for a stadium at Poplar Point, across the Anacostia River from Nationals Park. "But it has to be something fair," he says.

Does that mean a very significant team contribution to the building costs? "Yes," the mayor says.

Fenty, who was an early and vocal opponent of the city paying to build the Nationals' stadium, is now a big booster of Nationals Park and the residential, retail and entertainment district that is expected to develop around it. He sees two important differences between the baseball and soccer situations: Baseball more easily lends itself to ancillary development because its season has 81 home games, whereas the soccer team plays only 16 games at RFK Stadium.

And Fenty is not persuaded that the Poplar Point development needs a stadium to succeed: "We have three excellent plans to develop Poplar Point by nationally recognized developers who are ready and willing to make a great development without a soccer stadium," the mayor says.

Still, he adds, he feels "a huge impetus to do something to keep the team here. They are clearly a valuable private enterprise contributor to the city."

Politically, Fenty is in a bind. Some of his supporters fondly remember his opposition to the baseball stadium, while others have happily embraced his late conversion to the cause of the Nats' park.

If he were to take a strong position against the soccer stadium, Fenty would run the risk of being blamed for the loss of United to Maryland. And he would be in for a blast of icy wind from Council member Marion Barry, whose Ward 8 includes the Poplar Point site and who has come out strongly for the stadium development.

But if the mayor made a strong pitch for the soccer stadium, he would incur the wrath of some of his most devoted and important supporters, the environmental community, which has lined up strongly against the stadium and in support of keeping as much of Poplar Point as possible as unspoiled parkland.

So Fenty is holding back, waiting to see how engaged the D.C. council and other factions in the city become on the issue.

Most likely scenario: Delay. The worsening economic situation makes it ever harder to justify pumping big money into a stadium that would not significantly expand the tax base. Since Maryland's not likely to be eager to put up big bucks right now either, the wait and see move is probably Fenty's friend. But this is one that can't be put off indefinitely: The city will want to do something big with the RFK Stadium site in the next few years, and that would leave United homeless.

Fenty assures me that he has no intention of using the possible demolition of RFK as a threat against D.C. United. That, he says, is not how he wants the District to do business.

Is there a deus ex machina in this play? Some on the mayor's staff still say it's possible to find United another site in the city. The District is not exactly chockablock with wide open spaces available for sports facilities. The thin roster of possibilities when Major League Baseball was scouting for locations proved that out. But a soccer stadium's footprint could be smaller. Ideas, anyone?

2/28/07: The Baltimore Sun - $70,000 Study Set On D.C. United Move

By Childs Walker |Sun Reporter

The Maryland Stadium Authority ordered a $70,000 study yesterday to determine whether Prince George's County would be a suitable home for the D.C. United soccer club.

The study by Crossroads Consulting will examine the county's potential as a soccer market and the potential tax and economic development benefits of attracting the Major League Soccer team.
It will not focus on specific stadium sites. Those would have to be vetted later, though the club has shown interest over the years in several locations near College Park.

It's unclear who would pay for a soccer stadium in Prince George's. "Our commitment here is just to do the study," stadium authority chairman Frederick W. Puddester said.

The report is expected to be complete by July. United has agreed to reimburse the authority for its effort if the club ends up staying in Washington.

United spokesman Doug Hicks said the club is pleased the study will go forward.

United's status in the District of Columbia is murky. Club officials reached out to Maryland leaders about a possible move last fall after funding plans for a new stadium in the city seemed to fall through. But Washington Mayor Adrian M. Fenty recently refloated the idea of paying $190 million for a stadium as part of a redevelopment project in Southeast Washington.

Fenty previously criticized the use of public money for a new $611 million baseball stadium. Like the Washington Nationals before them, United wants out of RFK Stadium.

Given the uncertainty, United officials remain interested in assessing their options in the Washington suburbs.

Puddester said club executives told him they were caught off guard when Fenty reinitiated talk of funding for a Washington stadium.

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and state Comptroller Peter Franchot have expressed interest in luring the soccer club.

In other business yesterday, the stadium authority heard that construction on the new video and scoreboards at Camden Yards is on schedule. The last pieces of the video screen were expected to go in yesterday, with work on the right-field scoreboard and the main scoreboard set to wrap up next week or the week after.

2/27/08: Washington City Paper - To Build or Not To Build... Who wants a soccer stadium in Ward 8?

An aerial view of the proposed development in Poplar Point
(Courtesy Clark Realty)

The development of Poplar Point would fundamentally change the character of Ward 8, long known as the most economically disadvantaged and restaurant/retail-deprived area of the city. For years, residents have pondered what should become of this 110-acre parcel of land on the banks of the Anacostia River. Now, the city is considering a major development plan created by Clark Realty, which would include two distinct shopping areas, mixed housing, 70 acres of public parkland and a space option for D.C. United’s next soccer stadium, which would require public funding. While the possibility of a sports arena enthralls some, it repels others. This week, we talk to members of communities and hear their takes on the issue:

PRO:

There’s no adjective that I can think of that really describes how intensely I am for it. Having the stadium here in Ward 8 will make this ward a destination point for people in the metropolitan area. In my mind, there are practically no stores that they could put on that point that people could not access is their own communities. So, just putting in retail will not make Poplar Point a destination point, neither will it make it a destination point by just having mixed-income housing. Although the waterfront is there and there will be green space and we would want visitors, why would people think that someone living in Fairfax is going to necessarily come over to enjoy the green space at Poplar point, when there’s plenty of green space in that county? But, soccer will draw people because if you’re soccer fan, you’ll have to come over to where the action is.
-Philip Pannell, Executive Director of Anacostia Coordinating Council

I support the complete development package, which is very important to the new Ward 8. We would get some amenities that we’ve been missing for over 30 years…I work in the District, but I can’t spend my money in the District. All you have is Macy’s downtown! Where can I spend my money? I don’t necessarily want to see department stores. You can have boutiques and other stores. The majority of the local people are [in support of the stadium development plan]. I’ll doubt if you’ll find one that’s not. The soccer crowds will be good for the city, just like the baseball stadium. When you have these different sport activities, people enjoy that. That’s their relaxation, and that’s what they need.
-Mary Cuthbert, Ward 8 ANC commissioner

These days, nobody’s coming to Ward 8 unless you live here. Your cousin might visit you. Once we get the soccer thing and the retail, we’ll have things to give a person a reason to come over to Ward 8. Right now, we got nothing, nothing, nothing…You look at a tourist map downtown, we’re not on it. But then, they’ll expand that map. [Laughs.] We need people to come in and spend money. It’s nice to have visitors; we don’t want them to move here. But, they can visit. Then, we can feel like we’re part of the District. Right now, we’re the only ones here—we can see each other everyday. This would bring a different type of visitor…They pay taxes; the stadium people will be paying taxes; the vendors will pay for their licenses. It will bring in revenue, so Ward 8 can pay its fair share, because right now, we don’t have much to pay in taxes.
-Sandra Seegars, candidate for Ward 8 Councilmember

CON:

I’m always in favor of development and improvement. If you start addressing the quality of life issues first, then I can support a soccer stadium if they were to do that. But, I don’t support anything with this cost. I mean look at the stadium across the river. I’m not in favor of throwing the money in the black hole again. Take care of what needs to be taken care of now, and that’s the people that are here now, not the people, who when you do your projection at the office of planning, and see the type of income that it’s going to sustain the community, blah-bidee-blah, 10, 15 years later. You know, we’re talking now: I would like to see more than one hospital and nursing homes. The two nursing homes that I know over here are horrible. Let’s fix them. Let’s staff them. We’re talking about mental health clinics, recreation centers, low income housing.
-David Brown, resident for 30 years

I’ve been to meetings. I’ve heard people’s pros and cons, and I’ve pretty much been against it from the beginning. And now that I’ve heard it’s going to be built partially with public funds, I’m even more against it. I’m a real outdoorsey type person. Once you lay concrete, it’s hard to take it up, and have a natural setting again, and even though they’re proposing it’s going to have a low impact design, it’s still going to be a major impact on the environment. It’s going to be an impact on the river—and we all know what condition that that’s in. Poplar Point is such a small area, for one. And I know people think visitors are going to be using the Metro, but the stadium’s still going to bring so much traffic. Plus, with everything else they’re going to build on Poplar Point—the area’s not that big.
-Crystal Banks, lifelong Southeast resident

2/23/07: The Washington Post - Funding Plan for Soccer Stadium Denounced

Some District residents are skeptical of public funding.(By Alexandra Garcia -- Washingtonpost.com)

By David Nakamura

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 23, 2008

Ninety D.C. residents and 17 organizations co-signed a letter to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) denouncing a proposal to use public tax money to fund construction of a soccer stadium in Southeast.

In a private meeting with the council last week, Fenty had laid out the possibility of using excess tax revenue that was being collected to service debt on the Nationals ballpark to borrow $150 million in construction bonds for a 27,000-seat stadium for D.C. United. The coalition said in the letter that city leaders should either pay off the baseball stadium debt faster or use the excess taxes for other city services.

"Every penny of public subsidy going into a soccer stadium is a penny that could be used to improve services that DC residents really care about -- health care, education, a clean environment, good libraries, decent housing, and healthy recreation spaces," the letter said.

--

2/16/08: Washington City Paper - MacFarlane Speaks—”Hopeful” of Council Approval

MacFarland (left) Davis (right).

By Mike DeBonis on Feb. 15, 2008, at 6:00 pm

LL wasn’t the only tall, handsome, impeccably dressed gentleman roaming the Wilson Building halls this afternoon.

D.C. United owner and real-estate mogul Victor MacFarlane was making the rounds of D.C. Council offices late today, trying to gauge and drum up support for public funding for a Ward 8 soccer stadium.

LL caught up with MacFarlane on his way out of the building about 20 minutes ago and asked him what his message was to councilmembers today. MacFarlane declined to talk specifics, but spoke in broad terms: “I think we’re focusing on the main principles….We’re going to provide substantial equity that doesn’t require any new taxes.”

Yesterday, a Washington Post article revealed that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty was in talks with MacFarlane about public funding for a stadium at Poplar Point.

MacFarlane has lobbied for a soccer stadium on Poplar Point since the days of Mayor Anthony A. Williams, but the talks came as a surprise, because MacFarlane’s company had declined to submit a bid to serve as master developer of the Poplar Point project after Fenty decided to open the land to other developers.

MacFarlane did say that he’s “very satisfied” with the announcement yesterday of Clark Realty as the master developer and that he and Clark had already begun talks about the stadium.

Asked if he was confident of council approval for any public-private partnership on the stadium, MacFarlane said: “I’m hopeful.”

2/16/08: The Washington Times - United's Stadium Could Help Nationals

Mary F. Calvert / The Washington Times D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray: "We could actually have parking for D.C. United used for the Nationals as well."


By Tim Lemke
February 16, 2008

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray yesterday said a new soccer stadium at Poplar Point would help alleviate parking problems across the Anacostia River at the Nationals new ballpark.

"We have a horrific parking problem with the Nationals stadium," Gray said. "I'm not sure people know how close Poplar Point is. If we coordinate schedules, we could actually have parking for D.C. United used for the Nationals as well."

During an interview with reporters and editors of The Washington Times, Gray said there is now strong council support for helping D.C. United find a new home at Poplar Point, and that he has not ruled out using some public funds to construct the new facility.

"I think there are a lot of council members who are excited about how we can do this, and we'd like to reach some sort of conclusion sooner rather than later," he said. "I'm interested in trying to see what we can do to keep D.C. United here. The feasibility side of that I think really will still have to be determined, and that is what is the deal, what is the plan, and what will be required of the District."

Mayor Adrian Fenty on Thursday announced that Clark Realty will head up a massive redevelopment of the 110-acre Poplar Point site and said he is in favor of placing a stadium there.

Neither Fenty nor Gray, however, said they will support financing the stadium entirely with city money, as was done with the Nationals ballpark.

"I don't think there's likely to be any support for a deal in which we'd pay for the entire stadium," Gray said.

Poplar Point is located east of the Anacostia River, within sight of the Nationals ballpark in Southeast. Conceivably, Gray said, fans heading to Nationals game could walk from Poplar Point across a pedestrian walkway on one of the bridges crossing the Anacostia. The Nationals have identified only about 5,000 parking spaces in the ballpark neighborhood, forcing them to use shuttles bus fans from lots at the RFK site.

Gray also said fans parking in Poplar Point would boost economic development efforts east of the Anacostia.

"With Poplar Point becoming a mixed-use site, imagine 81 days with bringing five, 10 or 15,000 back to the other side of the river after games or even before games," he said.

Gray downplayed recent suggestions that the city would try to lure the Redskins back to a new stadium in the District. Early proposals have called for the city to tear down RFK and allow the Redskins to build a new stadium on the site. The city would provide the team with the land for free.

"To the extent there have been discussions with the council, I'm not aware of that at all," Gray said. "RFK has been around for 48 years, and there's absolutely no economic development that's taken place. If economic development is supposed to be the objective of this, how should I believe things will be different after 48 years?"

Meanwhile, Gray said he is hopeful that a new Major League Baseball academy will be under construction within the next year at Fort DuPont.

Gray, who campaigned for the academy when a council member representing Ward 7, said he has had several meetings with Dirk Kempthorne, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, about getting access to the necessary land through either a transfer or long-term ground lease from the federal government. Construction could begin after an environmental study, which will take six to nine months.

Gray also said the Tiger Woods Foundation has had early talks about building a new learning center in Ward 7.