D.C. United executives and District officials have reached a preliminary $300 million deal to build a 20,000-seat stadium for the team on Buzzard Point in Southwest Washington.
The agreement, team and city leaders said, could end a decade-long search by the Major League Soccer franchise for a new venue that would allow it to leave RFK Stadium, where D.C. United has played since its founding in 1996 but where its investors say the team loses money every year.
The project also would mark an economic development achievement for Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) as he weighs a run for reelection next year. Plotted between Half and Second streets SW just south of Potomac Avenue, a few blocks southwest of Nationals Park, the stadium would add another link in a chain of developmentsalong the city’s waterfront.
Unlike previous mayors who considered stadium options to keep the team from relocating, Gray enjoys a stable budget outlook and a negotiating partner, in the team’s new investors, who say they can help finance the project.
But the plan hinges on a series of proposed land swaps and development projects across the city that could lead to political and logistical land mines. And convincing District residents and lawmakers to back the deal is likely to open old wounds over the divisive fight to build Nationals Park, which the District paid for entirely.
City Administrator Allen Y. Lew, who negotiated the deal for the mayor, said the project has more in common with the construction of Verizon Center downtown — a privately financed stadium enabled by government spending on land and infrastructure.
With the city planning a new streetcar line and a $600 million realignment of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge nearby, Lew said the soccer stadium could do for the west side of South Capitol Street what Nationals Park has done on the east.
“Our vision is that we would have two great stadiums on this side of the bridge,” said Lew, who spoke to The Washington Post ahead of a formal announcement on Thursday.
Jason Levien, managing partner for United, credited Gray and Lew with moving quickly to find a stadium solution after he and partners led by Indonesian media magnate Erick Thorir bought a majority stake in the team a year ago. Levien said the team could relocate as early as 2016.
“It’s amazing how quickly they have been able to get this done,” he said.
In the agreement, several aspects of which have not been finalized and would require approval from the D.C. Council, the District and United would split the costs for the project, with the city providing about $150 million to assemble land and prepare the site and the team spending a similar amount building the stadium. Levien said the team had yet to decide whether to build a 20,000-seat stadium with room for expansion or build 25,000 seats at the start.
D.C. United would be granted a 25- to 35-year lease for the land and would have the opportunity to develop restaurants, shops and possibly a hotel along Half Street SW. A sales and use tax abatement worth as much as $2.6 million in its first year is also a part of the tentative deal.