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.”