“In a deal between the Maryland Stadium Authority, the county and DC United, a 24,000-seat stadium costing up to $195 million would be built beginning later this year on 12 acres near one of the county’s Metrorail stations.”
“This is a new day for D.C. United,” MacFarlane said. “We now see a new home for our club and our fans and we think this will bring the kind of opportunity to Prince George’s County that is so important right now.”
In the deal, the Stadium Authority would issue bonds to finance construction and of the total cost, 75 percent of which will come from admission, sales and income tax revenue created by the project. The other 25 percent will come from the team, which would lease the new stadium. Legislation is still needed to approve the plan but has been submitted by Del. Melony Griffith, D-Prince George’s.
MacFarlane, managing principal of MacFarlane Partners, had made every effort to build a new stadium on Poplar Point, a 110-acre seat on the eastern bank of the Anacostia River, but D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty opted to issue a competitive solicitation for the property. Fenty picked Clark Realty Capital as master developer in February 2008, but terminated that relationship at the end of January.
MacFarlane called questions about what transpired between the team and D.C. “immaterial.” “You can’t rewind the clock. That is passed. We are coming to Prince George’s County,” he said.
In an interview, he added that although he had some initial discussions with Clark, he had known for probably a year that the team would need to leave the city. “We weren’t a major focus in the mayor’s eyes for some time,” he said.
D.C. United has won four Major League Soccer Championships in its 13-year history, but the move to Prince George’s means it will need to convince its fan base, largely based in Northern Virginia, to trek across the District to games, or else grow its popularity in Maryland. “We recognize that we may have to change our fan base a little bit,” said United President Kevin Payne.
It isn’t just the team that is moving, from RFK Stadium on Capitol Hill to Prince George’s, but United corporate offices, amounting to about 85 jobs and no corporate functions will remain in the District, team officials said. Payne estimated that another 40 to 50 permanent jobs will be created to manage a stadium, as well as dozens more part-time positions to help manage roughly 20 soccer games and another 40 events every year. Players from visiting teams will no longer stay in District hotels either; they will stay in the Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor.
Image via PB
