WASHINGTON, DC-A 20,000 to 25,000-seat soccer stadium in the Buzzard Point area of Southwest is moving forward. DC Mayor Vincent Gray and DC United announced the signing of a public-private partnership term sheet to build the new $300 million stadium, which will be located next to Fort McNair Army base, bounded by Half Street and Second streets SW and between R and T streets. It is expected to deliver for the 2016 season.

The stadium deal will rely on an admittedly creative development plan that entails a series of land swaps that the mayor's office says will spur additional development without impacting the District's debt cap.

Specifically, the DC government will swap District-owned property, including the Frank D. Reeves Center for Municipal Affairs, to assemble the stadium site parcels. Reeves Center tenants as well as other District agencies in leased space will relocate to a new municipal facility in Anacostia near the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Good Hope Road SE.

This facility would be developed and funded using a model similar to the District's recently completed 200 Eye Street SE building.

"The new soccer stadium is the final piece in the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative puzzle that, when complete will create the most vibrant and sustainable sports-and-retail district in America," Gray says in a prepared statement.

The District will act as a horizontal developer and assume the cost of land acquisition and infrastructure, which is approximately $150 million. DC United will construct the stadium, for approximately $150 million.

The design for the proposed stadium hasn't been finalized. DC United officials are considering multiple potential concepts.

The term sheet also aggressively pushes to include District-based businesses in development contracts as well as local resident hiring goals for construction and operation of the stadium.

"This strategic agreement brings another anchor to the burgeoning sports-and-entertainment district along the riverfront area, while creating the climate for residential and commercial development in Anacostia that will hopefully replicate the success that the Reeves Center brought to the 14th Street corridor," City Administrator Allen Y. Lew, says in a prepared statement.

Planned transportation projects like the new South Capitol Street Bridge and streetcar system will support the stadium and serve as inducements for additional investment on both sides of the Anacostia, he adds. "In the next several years we will accelerate the development that has been envisioned for decades."

The other significant change to the District will be the construction of the new 200,000-square foot municipal facility in Anacostia. It will adjoin a recently completed facility that houses the DC Department of Housing and Community Development and include street-level retail and adjacent residential and parking components. The facility is expected to accommodate nearly 850 employees.

The new facility is expected to be a prime catalyst for the CHASE (Congress Heights, Anacostia, and St. Elizabeth's) plan, a collaborative effort between the District, residents, non-profit organizations and private interests looking at a range of topics including affordable housing, transportation, large-site redevelopment, and retail with a special emphasis on workforce development.

Instant Insights /

$300M Stadium Deal Moves Forward

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