By DAN KARELL
The wait for a D.C. United stadium has been long and arduous, but it could be coming to a close amid reports that a new stadium project is moving toward completion.
According to multiple reports on Wednesday, D.C. United and the District of Columbia mayor, Vincent C. Gray, have reached a tentative agreement for the Major League Soccer club to move forward with plans for building a soccer specific stadium in Buzzards Point, along the Washington D.C. waterfront.
(UPDATE: D.C. United confirmed the reports on Thursday morning.)
Since their inception in 1996, D.C. United have played in the aging RFK Stadium, which was built with the intention of hosting football and baseball games.
Before building the proposed $300 million 20,000 to 25,000 seat stadium, D.C city officials must agree to a number of land swaps with D.C. based real-estate firm Akridge to acquire enough space to build not only the stadium, but potentially an area with restaurants, shops, and maybe even a hotel.
If the deal is approved, D.C. United would reportedly be given a 25-35 year lease on the land, with the ownership group already committing to moving into the new stadium in the 2016 season. The site for the proposed stadium is also just moments away from MLB’s National Park.
According to one report, stadium talks became more advanced when D.C. United was purchased by Erick Thohir and Jason Levien and their consortium in July 2012. D.C. United would become the 13th team in the league with their own soccer specific stadium.
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What do you think of this news? Excited to see good news on the D.C. United stadium front? Do you like the proposed stadium location?
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