Council's Aug. 9 meeting could become a key turning point as discussions continue between the MLS and Austin.
When Precourt Sports Ventures identified McKalla Place as its preferred site to build a Major League Soccer stadium in Austin, the Columbus Crew soccer team's operating group hoped to enter into negotiations with the city before Austin City Council took its summer break in July.
PSV may achieve that goal if a council resolution is passed on Thursday, June 28, authorizing City Manager Spencer Cronk to discuss the proposed stadium with the operating group. However, the city may open up the process to consider competing proposals for the property as well.
Council Members Leslie Pool, Ora Houston, Alison Alter and Ellen Troxclair have proposed directing Cronk to solicit other plans for the McKalla Place site, including mixed-use development and affordable housing options.
“Knowing all of the opportunities available to us not only helps us make an informed decision, but it puts us in a better negotiating position with all of the participants, as well,” Pool said in a statement released by her office on Wednesday.
According to Pool, soliciting other proposals for the site will not delay the McKalla Place discussions because they would be presented to the council at the same time as the soccer stadium plan.
Pool said she would prefer to follow the city’s established “Request for Proposals” process, but recognized that the length of that process may not work with the timeline for the soccer stadium discussions.
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, Mayor Steve Adler and Council Members Pio Renteria and Delia Garza sponsored the item scheduled for a June 28 vote that would authorize Cronk to enter into negotiations with PSV. The resolution calls for the city manager to return to council on Aug. 9 for a status update on negotiations or for contract approval.
Pool said she views the two resolutions as “complementary.”
“One tells staff to continue the soccer stadium conversation and the other says that while that’s happening, we’re also going to put all of our options on the table. I think they can work well together,” she said.
The resolutions set up Aug. 9 as an important date in the ongoing story of Major League Soccer and Austin, which began in October when Crew investor-operator Anthony Precourt announced his intentions to move his club. If both resolutions pass, city staff will bring back more information to council at the Aug. 9 meeting about both the stadium and the competing proposals.
According to PSV’s proposal, the operating group hopes for an “official project start” for its new stadium in Austin sometime in summer 2018, followed by a 66-week design phase and 78-to-82-week construction phase before the stadium opens in 2021. The group hopes to move the team to Austin for the start of the next MLS season, beginning in spring 2019.
PSV’s proposal also calls for the city to pay for “development of all site preparation, remediation and off-site infrastructure as may be necessary for the stadium project.” However, the resolution that would authorize the city manager to enter negotiations with PSV asks Cronk to work toward a number of outcomes. One of those outcomes would “require PSV to pay for construction and development of the stadium and site.”
