District leaders offered generally muted reaction Thursday to D.C. United’s threat to leave the nation’s capital for the suburbs if its bid for a new stadium and mixed-use development just east of the Anacostia River is ultimately rejected.
In their letter to Mayor Adrian Fenty first reported in Thursday’s Examiner, D.C. United co-owner Victor MacFarlane and President Kevin Payne questioned the city’s desire to keep theteam and acknowledged they have “begun discussions with surrounding jurisdictions about alternate stadium sites.”
They reiterated their preference to relocate to the 110-acre Poplar Point, which will soon transfer from federal to District control.
Neil Albert, deputy mayor for economic development and planning, declined in a statement to specifically address the matter of D.C. United, saying only that the city is “in the midst of a competitive selection process to choose a master developer for Poplar Point, and we do not want to get out ahead of the process.”
Albert and MacFarlane met Thursday to discuss the situation, which remains unsettled.
D.C. United, which sees its current status at RFK Stadium as untenable, has in the past considered pursuing a stadium in both Maryland and Virginia, including land in Loudoun County that had also been discussed as the possible home for the Washington Nationals.
“I think it’s regrettable that the Fenty administration has shot itself in the foot by misleading all of us, the community and Mr. MacFarlane into thinking we were headed down a path for success and mixed-use development,” said Ward 8 D.C. Council Member Marion Barry.
Barry, a vigorous MacFarlane backer, said the District must take seriously the team’s threat to leave. MacFarlane, he said, has “spent too much money to posture.”
The professional soccer squad has long sought to build a $150 million, 27,000-seat stadium on Poplar Point in conjunction with a larger mixed-use development. In return for financing the stadium, the team has asked for subsidies from the District totaling as much as $200 million.
But the team’s proposal was dismissed by the Fenty administration, which opted to launch a competitive process that made no mention of a soccer stadium. Bids are due by Nov. 2.
“They’re an asset for us and I hope we can keep the teamin our city,” Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells said of D.C. United.
Examiner Staff Writer Craig Stouffer contributed to this article.
