"Thank you Kevin for this D.C. United jersey and congratulations on your terrific season," Fenty said. "It is great to see over 20,000 fans here at RFK supporting D.C. United. It is my hope that your fans will soon be coming to your brand new soccer stadium at Poplar Point in Anacostia. World class fans, and a world class team like D.C. United, deserve a world class stadium. And I am going to make it a priority to help you build that stadium. Thank you -- congratulations and good luck to the Black-and-Red!"

-Adrian Fenty on Oct 29 2006 (right before a mayoral elction mind you)

link to full article: http://www.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20061031&content_id=77524&vkey=news_dcu&fext=.jsp&team=t103

"All of the community programs we have begun over the past decade East of the River and elsewhere in the District will continue and we will honor the promises we have made to our good friends who have been so supportive of us. We have always believed promises are meant to be kept."

That about sums it up for me.

Dear Ulitmate Warrior,
I have seen your post. Thank you, but we have seen it enough. People say stuff all the time, doesn't mean they have to live by what they say. He is a mayor in a mayoral race, of course people say stuff to get elected, please let it go.

He is a mayor in a mayoral race, of course people say stuff to get elected, please let it go.

Posted by: Laura | October 18, 2007 07:39 PM
-----------------------
Well, we're not talking about an all-encompassing, unfulfillable, campaign promise like universal health care or higher educational achievement. This is a very specific item that Fenty is capable of delivering.

Post Season ticket sales?

No longer available for the first round, upper section for the second round and way upper section for the MLS Cup.

Did tickets really sell this fast, are they holding tickets back until the date is final or is something wrong with the ticketmaster site? Otherwise I guess its off to Craigs List to find lower bowl tickets.

Q: What should be done with the large parking lot near Metro Center where the old convention center once stood?

A: A new soccer stadium in the heart of downtown.

Preach it I-270, Exit 1

fyi, The Ultimate Warrior is a former I-270, exit 6er.

Am I playing tonight or not? My fans are dying to know.

Campaign promises can be fulfilled given the will. Remember when our government actually used to work? We now live in such a cynical and incompetent time of low expectations that people like Laura and I-270 think lies and failure from our leaders are a given.

Perhaps Fenty is just negotiating? I bet United winds up staying in the city. And if Fenty can get DC taxpayers a better deal, then it will be a job well done. Financially, all we season ticket holders have to look forward to from a new stadium is higher prices and fewer planholder benefits.

Steven-

Is there any plan for DC to fix their current stadium so that when we play in MLS Cup there's not a big gaping hole behind the North goal?

It would just seem shoddy that the league has their marquee game beamed out across the world with all the soccer-loving fans overseas wondering where our seats are.

Thx,

Jay!

Q: What should be done with the large parking lot near Metro Center where the old convention center once stood?

A: A new soccer stadium in the heart of downtown.

Posted by: FC | October 18, 2007 08:31 PM
_________________________________________

That is a small fraction of the size of the existing RFK site; you could just about fit a stadium there, with no parking lots. The nearby Verizon Center relies almost entirely on existing parking garages and lots in the neighborhood that serve commuters during the day, and VC events on evenings and weekends. An SSS could perhaps do likewise, but only if it scheduled its events around VC events or vice versa).

A postscript to my previous post: Without expansive parking lots, tailgate parties as we know them would be a thing of the past. Is that what people really want?

Parking should not be a priority at the convention center site. The site is served by two central Metro stations that cover all 5 lines. If people can't take Metro to a site that centrally located, they deserve to pay the $20 or whatever the neighborhood lots want to charge. Same goes for Verizon Center patrons. Now admittedly, Metro should provide more frequent service to accommodate the crowds - but assuming they agree to that, Metro should be the primary means for getting to the game.

i think the priority should be a metro-accessible stadium, if that precludes tailgating then so be it. after all, the priority is United, not pre-gaming.

i'm sure if the stadium ended up somewhere where parking lots (and therefore tailgating) were not an option, KP and United would work something out to allow the supporters groups to have organized pre-games on stadium concourses or something. that would benefit the supporters groups as well, since anyone wanting to "tailgate" would have to do it as part of the group.

"The economics of the opportunity at Poplar Point as described in the RFEI make it extraordinarily difficult for a practical and privately financed stadium project there. The amount of land available for development, the timing of the land transfer becoming effective, relocation of the National Park Police, the uncertainty about environmental issues, the current reluctance by the District to commit to infrastructure and remediation costs, the proposed phasing of the project, and the absence of any time-table for the new Frederick Douglass Bridge all are factors which make it almost impossible to realize a satisfactory outcome in a reasonably projected timeframe."

This doesn't make it sound as if Poplar Point is any longer an option that United is considering.

I'm more than willing to miss out on tailgating if it means I don't have to cart myself out to Bmore county to see a game. Just get loaded on the train, they can't arrest us all.

Q: What should be done with the large parking lot near Metro Center where the old convention center once stood?

A: A new soccer stadium in the heart of downtown.

That would be great, but there is virtually no chance of that happening. It's one of the most valuable available urban tracks in the country. They are not going to use it for soccer. Plus there is already a plan for it. Construction begins next year.
http://www.oldconventioncenter.com

On the BSPN2 halftime show, they just reported that the Switzerland affair was the USA's first win on European soil since 1994. Where do they get ideas like that?

how was that blown call by the ref on the penalty possible?

whats the spread on beckham getting injured?

Beckham has an unfortunate self-propelled fall, but is able to get up and contribute little to a 1-1 tie with NJ.

The old convention center site is just a shade too small for DC United's needs. They are looking for 13 acres minimum, and this site is around 12

Just checked the blog and got to this post.

WTF?

The Ultimate Warrior posted the following Mayor Fenty quote:

"Thank you Kevin for this D.C. United jersey and congratulations on your terrific season," Fenty said. "It is great to see over 20,000 fans here at RFK supporting D.C. United. It is my hope that your fans will soon be coming to your brand new soccer stadium at Poplar Point in Anacostia. World class fans, and a world class team like D.C. United, deserve a world class stadium. And I am going to make it a priority to help you build that stadium. Thank you -- congratulations and good luck to the Black-and-Red!"

-Adrian Fenty on Oct 29 2006

Laura responded:

"Dear Ulitmate Warrior,
I have seen your post. Thank you, but we have seen it enough. People say stuff all the time, doesn't mean they have to live by what they say. He is a mayor in a mayoral race, of course people say stuff to get elected, please let it go."

I ask again, WTF?!

We live in a country with free elections and an open government, where our elected officials are accountable to US for what they do and say. Do they not teach this in school anymore?

I think this quote should appear in EVERY blog in which negotiations between DC United and the city government are discussed, as a reminder that the team is dealing with a Mayor who will "say stuff to get elected." If it doesn't appear in said blogs, I, for one, will most certainly be THINKING of it.

Laura, in the future, please don't speak for me in your posts; use "I" instead of "we."

Thank you.

I love the idea of the old Convention Center site. I also love the idea of just plopping a new stadium down in the middle of National Mall.

Reading the Q&A, it finally clicked for me: I just don't think this thing is going to happen in the District. The local government would have to suddenly develop the political will to make things happen quickly. I don't reckon that will is there anymore... not after the baseball stadium.

Come on, Mr. Mayor. Prove me wrong. Please.

There are not many (if any) sites in the District that could be made available to DCU within the time frame that VMac is apparently working with.
Rebuilding on the RFK site would take some very quick manuvering fith the Federal gov't (unlikely) if they were to get it done before 2015.

I like the idea of bulldozing the White House and putting up a 35,000 seat stadium for Field Hockey.

Try reading the news before bringing these things up.

The Convention Center site went through planning and approval over a year ago. RFK is years (if not decades) away from figuring out what is going to happen and you would be crazy to think MacFarlane is going to lose tons of money subsidizing DC United for that long of a time.

Big Soccer is the perfect place for your "wouldn't it be cool if" or "they should" comments.

I echo Laura's sentiments. I've seen the post over and over and that's enough.

We now live in such a cynical and incompetent time of low expectations that people like Laura and I-270 think lies and failure from our leaders are a given.

Posted by: Randy | October 18, 2007 08:58 PM
-------------------------------

Randy,
Go back and read the entries. You'll realize (I hope) that Laura and I disagree about whether Fenty should be held accountable on this issue.

DCU in Wheaton -- one problem with your thought -- you don't get a vote in the DC mayoral election. If DCU comes to the Montgomery County Council and asks it to spend $350 million of your dollars on infrastructure to support their stadium, THEN you will have a say. I don't see anywhere in Fenty's remarks that he promised to spend $350 million of DC money on a soccer stadium. (I'm not saying the $350M figure is real -- I haven't read much reporting on where that figure comes from and how it is built up.) As a Montgomery County resident, and DC tix holder, I'd love it if someone else built a nice new stadium for "my" team, too, but I won't get too emotional about it just yet. It's a high-stakes business & political negotation, fun to watch as such, just like a good soccer game. And I find myself thinking -- if Franchot and Marion Barry are on the same side of an issue -- perhaps I better re-examine my stand.

I'm thinking Roosevelt Island. It's just a bunch of trees honoring a dead president. We could identify an Elm on the mall, stick a plaque on it for Roosevelt and then takeover the island for the stadium. We'd have to run waer taxi's over from the major metro stops, but as long as we're fantasizing about a stadium in D.C. by 2010, why not? My other option is Haines Point. They already ruined the golf course with that herbicide fiasco - why not raze it all together and put the stadium there?

That Fenty quote should be in every post on the stadium, if only to help us remember the exact statement. In this process, every news article gives it added meaning and depth.

I'd much rather have someone post the quote, than to have someone come on here and say "Fenty promised us a stadium at Poplar Point." Well, not exactly. Read the quote again.

But do I feel used? Yeah, I do.

"But do I feel used? Yeah, I do"

Why? What did you do, or not do, because of what Fenty said? McF might have a legitimate beef, but who else?

Off topic . . . US blog picks up Swedish newspaper report that USWNT is interested in Pia Sundhage. Hopefully a change will happen the day that the "Self-Esteem Tour" is over.

Puzzled? I felt Fenty made a promise that he would make Poplar Point happen for DCU. I voted for him based partly on that. I don't think he is following up on his promise.

Of course, that's just my opinion. But anyone can read the text -- conveniently provided by The Ultimate Warrior in the comments above -- and decide for themselves what Fenty did or did not promise.

WNT ... as a District resident and someone who actually understands the idea of municipal investment ... I think I can comment. (I love how you preclude anyone from having an opinion.) The $350M dollars is not just throw away money to get a soccer stadium. It is an investment in a woefully underdeveloped and valuable piece of real estate in the district and a boost to the economy in Ward 8. Consider that Poplar Point is less than 4 miles from the US Capitol. It is also on the water, which in any other city but DC is prime real estate and really should be a natural resource that the district learns to utilize. It is also across the river from an area (The Ballpark District/Near SE/The Yards) which the district has decided to pump much more than $800M dollars into in hopes that it will spark economic growth. Wouldn't you think that that piece of property would be one that the district would want to at least outfit with the proper infrastructure to spur growth and TAX REVENUE! OHH wow that's right the district can make money off of this development! Yes at first blush, $350M seems like a large initial investment for just a soccer stadium but in reality it is not that at all. McFarlane was proposing to put in around 8M sq. ft. of mixed-use development on that land as well and still reserve about 40acres for parkland. The district makes nothing-nada-zero off that property as it exists now with broken down buses and about 5000 sq. ft. of US Park Service offices on it. Hell if anything it cost them money because it is an shooting gallery for drugies and and a squaters paradise for homeless which they have to patrol (they are responsible in the public access areas along the water). With 8M sq. ft. of taxable development, which would include retail (more taxes), the district stands to make its money back in time. Plus it might spur development on the outskirts and other areas in Ward 8 ... more taxes. It is not subsidies ... it is municipal investment. Let's not kid ourselves ... Mr. McFarlane is a business man and he is not doing this out of the kindness of his own heart. There is money to be made on that site and that was his goal all along, but he played the game as it should be played with an even hand to both his interests and the interests of DC residents. One large reason that DC became so blighted in the first place was because of municipal mismanagement, underhanded dealings, and bait and switch games (well that and crack) , which drove development interests outside of the city and into VA and MD. Now the district is feeling a major RE resurgence and has become one of the most attractive development areas in the country, but it is broken promises like this that sour relationships and prompt developers to decide that there is just too much risk in working with the DC government and once again the money flows elsewhere and your property values go down the toilet. How does living in the district feel now WNT? Ahh you probably don't care ... you are probably just a renter anyway.

Fenty's wasn't an illuminating comment, that's for sure. But didn't the slippery language, avoiding a real assurance of a stadium, set off any alarms? Why is anyone surprised?

I-270,
I was making a larger point about your comment:

"Well, we're not talking about an all-encompassing, unfulfillable, campaign promise like universal health care or higher educational achievement."

I believe we should expect our government to fulfill promises, no matter how grand they are. It certainly used to. In any case, this is probably not a topic relevant to this thread.

Q: What should be done with the large parking lot near Metro Center where the old convention center once stood?

A: A new soccer stadium in the heart of downtown.

That would be great, but there is virtually no chance of that happening. It's one of the most valuable available urban tracks in the country. They are not going to use it for soccer. Plus there is already a plan for it. Construction begins next year.
http://www.oldconventioncenter.com

Posted by: KR in DC | October 18, 2007 11:50 PM

Ah hem, if you look at the link you'll see the quote on the front page is from Anthony Williams. We know already that Fenty doesn't care about what Williams did or promised or whatever.

Sorry WNT ... didn't mean to single you out to make my point. I re-read and realize you were just making the counter point. I guess I just have a hangover from all of the Fisher anti-development BS.

BigBert, no worries, no offense. I am fascinated by the whole thing. It should be reported on in Business, not only Metro and Sports. There seem to be a lot of questions without many facts. Doesn't Fenty have an obligation to maximize return for the city from any municipal investment? I appreciate that the City's behavior may cause other investors heartburn. If this is just a massive bluff that causes DCU to walk, and no other bidder steps in, then he's screwed up big time. But isn't it way too early to tell that? And certainly sole source bidding is not the cure for municipal mismanagement and underhanded dealings. $350 million seems like a pretty hefty demand, even in Anacostia. Where does all that money come from, what does it pay for, and when and how is it paid back? Sure it's a municipal investment -- is DC United the biggest return on that investment? All of the venting and PR work doesn't help answer those questions, reporting would.

Translation of a German article about WNT team, using on-line tools, yields some interesting "Deutsch-lish" -- "to the well-being of the U.S. Frauenfussballs" indeed:

"Until today one waits in vain for an apology Ryans and a confession of its error its team by replacing the Torhueterin before the semi-final to have weakened. Solo one is the scapegoat, who is to hold for the fact that Ryan with one of the roughest wrong decisions of the U.S. Fussballgeschichte of the most embarrassing defeat of the U.S. Frauenfussballs smoothed the way. Admitted deficits But who gives already gladly voluntarily one up with 175,000 dollar per year endowed contract, if he knows that he will probably receive thereafter no comparable job offer more? Because that Ryan does not belong to the coaches of first grade, it was already indisputable with its obligation. No miracle thus that the media take also the federation into the obligation. As for instance Marks of Zeigler of San Diego union Tribune in a remarkable contribution. The athletic style, which Ryan the team drummed in in the past years, with long balls on Abby Wambach, proved with the WM as insufficient means. "we were out-played simply", say the experienced Stuermerin Shannon MacMillan. The earlier Trainerin of the U.S. national team April Heinrichs referred already in March 2005 in an interview nearly already prophetisch to the deficits of the crew: "we must spend more time at the ball and improve the technical talents further. The football we in ever stronger measure body-stresses, which concerns strength and mobility. But we must concentrate more on the technical sides." Strangely participateless so far the U.S. federation behaved and to be somewhat colorless president Sunil Gulati. One can only hope that one analyzes the situation in all peace there and then to 31 December 2007 the running out contract with Greg Ryan no longer extended. To the well-being of the U.S. Frauenfussballs."

WNT: The report from Germany is priceless! Also, do you have a more specific link for the Swedish report about Sundhage? Perhaps that report can be put through the translation wringer, too.

Southeasterner:

they want you to buy ticket packages, the "blackout packages" so there are few single game tix left. i just bought lower bowl tix for the Nov 1 game as a package, and got lower bowl MLS cup ones last week. try the package deals.

Southeasterner:
Try one of the fan clubs. They will try.

410 -- article re Sundhage is partially translated here -- http://www.ooosasoccer.com/

One can only hope that colorless Gulati is analyzing the situation in all peace here.

Sundhage would be an interesting choice.

Thanks! You may recall that in one of Zeigler's earlier columns in the San Diego paper, he revealed that when Heinrichs decamped, Sundhage was the top choice of everyone except the people at the top of the USSF who actually got to make the decision, and who chose Ryan.

Yes, I remember that. The WUSA had many good coaches, as well as good players, didn't it. Sermanni, Krikorian, Sundhage, Gabarra . . . .

"Because that Ryan does not belong to the coaches of first grade, it was already indisputable . . . . "

Frauenfussballs? Bwahahahahahaha!!!

Poplar Point? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Well I think his infrastructure costs would be higher than any of the current crop of proposals when they come in. Well and most of them will not ask for any help from the city, but that is not an apples to apples comparison. First off they were asked to propose on a site that had already had most of the infrastructure completed (esp. the large dollar item ... the changes associated with the new South Capitol Bridge which I think is included in the $350M dollar number quoted for the McFarlane package). They would only be responsible for the civil on the site, surface streets, and the ancillary utilities work within the site. I think McFarlane's $350M number also included some work that would have to be done offsite to upgrade the sewer, water, and power feeding the site. That was all included or assumed to have been previously completed and provided to the developer in the RFEI. So of course their numbers are going to be considerably lower but the scope is completely different. Also some of that is because the scale of his proposal was considerably larger. Mayor Williams gave him a development footprint of 150 acres with 80 acres being set aside for development of which there was about 15-20 acres for the stadium with parking and functional support buildings and about 60 acres being left for medium-high density mixed use development. The Request for Expression of Interest footprint was only 110 acres with only about 45-50 acres available for development. It is also skewed because McFarlane was building that stadium out of his own pocket and in reality there is little chance that the stadium would generate anywhere near the revenue (esp. in the short term) that a comparable investment in office space would, so he asked the city to pony up for some of the site's set-up cost. Finally his costs were higher because he was pushing for an accelerated timetable, so that he could have the stadium done in 2009 -10 and the rest if the site completed by 2012 or so. This is where I think alot of the confusion in his package comes from vs. the RFEI. He was going to do a lot of the infrastructure work himself rather than wait on the city to do it and then charge them back for the cost of it. In the RFEI the developer is going to have to wait for the city to complete the work (mind you they are going to pay for it either way) and that considerably increases the risk to the developer and slows down the delivery of the site (think start construction in 2011-12 finish development 2015-17) and McFarlane just doesn't have the time for all that. New York or Chicago (and Mayor Williams for that matter) would have really pushed for this because they realize that the faster this work is completed the faster that parcel begins to generate revenue for them and surprisingly it becomes a political winner for him because he has something tangible to point to during the next election cycle, but under the current plan he will just have a muddy hole in the ground a bunch of renderings to promise. People like execution and McFarlane is a doer ... hell Fenty has made himself out to be a doer and with the exception of this debacle I have been happy with his first couple of quarters in office, but he also ran as against the ballpark and I think this is definitely hangover from the Nationals. I think that the development from the RFEI proposals will be good, but I also know that now that the process has moved in this direction that everything is going to move so much more slowly. Ward 8 and the blighted section of the city could have used this now and sitting on your hands is not going to help anyone. The mayor could have engaged Mcfarlane and been a partner in his plan to make sure the city got what it wanted/needed out of it, but instead he chose to try to manage by regulation rather than through partnership. We will see if it ever happens and what they truly get. Fenty may not even be in office when it finally gets done. OK sorry to have hijacked. Back to the talk of firing Coach Ryan and the first DP for United.

"This doesn't make it sound as if Poplar Point is any longer an option that United is considering."
========

MacFarlane ain't Abe Pollin.

And like someone else said above,

"McFarlane is a business man and he is not doing this out of the kindness of his own heart. There is money to be made on that site and that was his goal all along, but he played the game as it should be played with an even hand to both his interests and the interests of DC residents."

MacFarlane is a businessman FIRST and a soccer team owner SECOND. The city government appears (to me, at least) to be wishing that he were more like Pollin or Snyder, and wants him to pay to build the stadium and NOTHING else, allowing the city to develop the surrounding land at its own pace.

Waterfront stadium info: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20071023_Funding__warning_on_soccer_stadium.html

We can even keep the name D.C. United: Delware County United. :)