Some congratulations is due to Mayor Vince Gray for finally having a deal for the D.C. United Stadium to present to the members of the D.C. Council. This comes almost a year after plans for a new stadium at Buzzard Point were first announced and almost six months after missing the first deadline for this project. D.C. United could have already backed out on this crazy deal that includes land swaps and dealings with multiple land owners in Southwest D.C. Prince of Petworth has posted the sprawling 1,000 word, three page beast of a press release from the mayor's office in its entirety, but we've gone through it to get to the major points of this headache of a project (so you don't have to). The top ten things to know about the deal are after the jump.
· The city already owns 88% of the land necessary to build the stadium. That's the easy part.
· One of the more contentious issues involved a land swap wherein developer Akridge would get the Reeves Center at 14th and U and the city would get a chunk of their land in Buzzard Point. That deal is still on the table.
· Should the deal go through, the current Reeves Center tenants would have to scram. But the plan is to build a new Reeves Center in Anacostia and have them relocate.
· There's another land swap with PEPCO that's still on the table. The city would get the land currently owned by the electrical company for the stadium and in return they'd get some land at 1st & K Street NW.
· PEPCO wouldn't be entirely out of there because stadiums need lots of power and bright lights for those evening matches. As such, they'd have to build a new substation in the area.
· The cost for this project will be split in half between the city and the team. D.C. pays $150 million to pick up the land and the team will spend another $150 million to build the stadium.
· D.C. United may come out having to pay more money than the city. D.C. won't spend any more than $150 million, but if the cost of the stadium runs higher, that's on the Major League Soccer organization. The team is also paying to develop the surrounding neighborhood.
· For the first thirty years, D.C. United will be renting the land for $1 per year.
· D.C. United will get out of having to pay any taxes whatsoever on game day sales until the stadium's sixth year in operation. They will not have to pay full taxes until the tenth year. After year ten, the city will get a percentage of the ticket sales.
· Over half of the jobs at the stadium will go to District residents.
· Mayor Gray Announces Completion of Soccer Stadium Deal in Buzzard Point [PoPville]
· All D.C. United Coverage [CDC]
Loading comments...