You might be right. I just think more often than not people only read the headlines. And the headline isn't flattering for the Crew or the ownership group. As I said, I believe the stadium will get done. But the headline is the news cycle right now, to anyone who even casually seeks out an update.
I miss when the main troll was that sports lawyer. More trolls must mean we are becoming bigger in the community though.
As always, Columbus Business First's coverage of this is dramatically better and more informative than is the Dispatch's: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbu...dium-with.html?iana=hpmvp_colum_news_headline Create a free account to read this, if you run into any issues (it's not subscriber-only content). The whole tenor of the piece is different. It starts: There are some new renderings of overall site details, but nothing approximating stadium porn. Any stadium images are exactly those presented in December. I think some of the Mapfre site drawings are newer, however. Also: Development plan set for $233M Crew Stadium, with Arena District land deal yet to come https://t.co/YIL4fcx1fn pic.twitter.com/jbjLlFBVL7— Columbus Business First (@columbusbiz1st) June 18, 2019
Much better story is here. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bi...-plan-set-for-233m-crew-stadium-with.amp.html The increase in funding is public bonds which was discussed in the original plan. I think the only change in funding is the state picked up 5 million and the county is now only doing 45.
The entire article is irrelevant and doesn't need comment by the Crew ownership. If you start trying to refute everything you end up looking petty and immature, like the ownership in that city in Texas.
You might have a point. Many people here hyped up every single headline and every quote about every NIMBY group in Austin protesting the stadium. Once the ownership group stopped responding to every small headline like that they only went about setting the MLS record for season ticket deposits in a single day. Hopefully our group can have similar success.
Looks to be some downsizing plans for the training grounds in order to stay north of Black and Gold blvd.
Yeah, looks as though B&G is no longer relocated farther out. Not sure how that affects the training facility, versus the recreational/community part of the facility. The original plan showed four full-sized fields (360x225'), two 345x210' fields, and two 300x180' fields, plus Mapfre (another 360x225' field) and an indoor facility with a 360x225' turf field and 8 bb courts. The training facility was tacked onto Mapfre, but there were no details provided. The new rendering shows: the Mapfre and three more 360x225' fields; four 345x210' fields; it defines the training facility as being 38,000 sq ft; the indoor facility doesn't have a lot of details, all it says is 8 bb courts and it is no longer remotely large enough to host a full-sized indoor turf field. Hmmmm. At first glance, I'd say the biggest change seems to be lack of an indoor practice field. Which makes me think that there's something we don't know. This has to be accounted for somewhere. Maybe one of the "outdoor" fields ends up being turf covered by a shell/bubble? In addition, there are still no details on what exactly is planned for Mapfre. But the plans still make it look as though it'll remain a stadium set-up.
Aside from nostalgia, I just don't get the Mapfre/Fairgrounds training facility. I'm not nostalgic by nature and have trouble understanding the feeling, so if that has a huge impact on others I may just have to be baffled. I think it is great that they want to build something in Columbus (rather than a suburb) and make it a focus for the community. I just don't see the point in doing it there. It's limited in size, as increasingly obvious by the most recent update. The stadium will server very little purpose and continue to suck up maintenance costs. I don't know if there are other areas owned by the city that could be developed as a public soccer park. The existing one that comes to my mind is Spindler Park. It hosts club soccer all the time and a large tournament. I could see some sort of agreement with the city to develop this into a more robust private training center with public access to nicer fields (including full size and medium size turf fields which are not abundantly available to the public around town). Anyway, happy that they're moving forward with a plan, certainly much better than the previously assumed alternative.
Columbus Business First has another article on the stadium development: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbu...m-details.html?iana=hpmvp_colum_news_headline Unfortunately, it's subscriber only. Fortunately, we're supposed to be getting a digital subscription at work this week.
Here you go: "Negotiations are still ongoing related to the future home of the Columbus Crew SC, but certain facts and figures are starting to coming into focus. That's thanks to a newly released draft agreement related to a new stadium complex in the Arena District and community sports park at the site of Mapfre Stadium on the city's north side. In total, the projects are expected to cost nearly $300 million: $140 million of which comes from public contributions, plus another $155.4 million in private investment. The contours of the deal have remained largely the same since it was initially announced in December, Steve Schoeny, director of development for the city, said Tuesday. But the new agreement and our interview with Schoeny and a representative of the ownership group shed additional light on the specifics of the project's backing, its timeline and its structure. Overall, Shoeny said, "public contribution to these projects actually hasn't grown at all. In fact, the public liability and risk has shrunk." Here's a look at what you need to know as the agreement heads to Columbus City Council later this month. Public contributions The funding plan hinges on the creation of what is called a New Community Authority, a financing vehicle that has helped shepherd many high-profile projects in Central Ohio, including Jeffrey Park in Italian Village, Neighborhood Launch on Gay Street, and Bridge Park in Dublin. The NCA will be the owner of the stadium and will lease it to the Crew, which will have full rights to any revenue from marketing and advertising deals, including naming rights. It's helpful to look at the general outlines of the deal when it was announced in December and see what has or hasn't changed: Back in December, plans called for $50 million from the city in capital funds, primarily for redeveloping the Mapfre Stadium site into a Community Sports Park, as well as land acquisition, infrastructure and public improvements around the new stadium. That cost has stayed the same. The county plans to contribute $45 million over 30 years into the NCA. The cash-value of that in 30 years from now would be around $75 million with inflation and other factors. So the "value cost" from the county has stayed the same, Schoeny said. The state of Ohio would contribute $15 million into the NCA. That figure has stayed the same, but could also include an additional $5 million next year, should that be approved by the legislature – but that hasn't been made official yet and is still subject to change. Around $25 million from public bonds issued by the NCA. Plans for that bond issuance are consistent with the MOU from December, Schoeny said, although the dollar amount was not previously disclosed. Any kind of overage costs on the stadium project would be covered by the investor group within the NCA, said Ted Tywang, a representative of the ownership group. Land ownership The land that the new stadium will sit on has not yet been purchased from Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd., Tywang said. The ownership group will be the buyers of that property, not the city or the county. Tywang wouldn't disclose the potential purchase price. The 420,000-square-foot stadium would be built on 10.5 acres largely controlled by Nationwide Realty on the western edge of the Arena District, along the Olentangy River. "We are the ones who are taking on the cost of buying the land from NRI," Tywang said. "And developing the project – though we will certainly keep the city in on those discussions." A joint venture of Turner Construction and Smoot Construction was identified as the design/builder of the complexes. The investor group taking the lead in developing a stadium site is a "growing tend" in MLS, Tywang said. It is likely that the Edwards Communities – a local veteran real estate developer – would work on the construction of the Confluence Village area, a mixed-use development around the stadium that would include hundreds of new apartments and senior housing, plus retail and office space. The city has only two public investments related to the project, Schoeny said: infrastructure for the new stadium and the Community Sports Park, plus its contribution to the NCA. No part of the city's investment would be used for actual construction of the stadium. "They’re absorbing a lot of the risk," said Schoeny. "Not all of it – but on major portions of it, and that's something that's important to us. We told them where we're coming from and the ownership group looked at it and accepted it." Though the land has yet to change hands, Tywang said that negotiations have been very positive and he expects that it will be completed with a lease agreement by August. "We are trying to move a deal forward with them when, in reality, we didn't have a lot of time to get it done," Tywang said. "So, for what it's worth, I'd say this is going forward rapidly.""
As a Hilliard resident, I wouldn’t want the facility at Spindler. They are already planning a billion more homes just west of Spindler and our roads are still 2 lane farm roads.
I'd say that the Edwards Communities is more than just a "local veteran real estate developer" as far as the Crew are concerned.
It's actually surprising the Edwards company isn't involved in the stadium itself. Maybe they are a supplier to Turner/Smoot or maybe a public ethics law prohibits it or something like that?
Not a NIMBY at all, I just know our infrastructure is already at capacity in Hilliard. Maybe they should build in in New Jersey so you can pout at Porter in person?
Why didnt we see this article today? Michael Arace | Plan for new Crew stadium running smoothly https://t.co/nri7HYXgxC— Columbus Dispatch (@DispatchAlerts) June 18, 2019 It came out today but the headline in the paper was it cost more (when it doesnt)
I think a public park makes a lot of sense at the location. Something that's not OSU owned in that area seems like a good idea. A training facility/park combo with the stadium remaining seems a little more perplexing but I'm sure having the team involved leads to added benefit in maintenance and PR areas. If I were a decision maker for the area, I'd probably lobby for removing the stadium infrastructure and turning the entire area into soccer fields with a new building on the outskirts to house the team operations and locker rooms. That way you increase the footprint for fields and don't encroach on parking for the Fairgrounds. I'm not sure what they are envisioning for the stadium unless there are plans for bigger events there.
That'd be a good 45 minute to hour drive for me at minimum. But I've traveled much longer to see the team I love. Great idea though. Authentically East Coast Elite!!!
Well, I could be wrong, but Edwards is all about (from their website): Mixed-use urban development Multi-family development & management Student housing development & management Condo development They have two development & construction companies: Edwards isn't an organization that builds stadium projects or has any experience doing projects like that. Thing is, much, if not most, of the Confluence Village development will be mixed-use. That's in their wheelhouse and, I would assume, one of the things (in addition to Dr. Pete's role with the Crew) that made this project - becoming part owners of the Crew - particularly appealing to the "Edwards Family." It put them in the drivers seat for a multi-hundred million dollar downtown development project. In addition, the "architect" that the Crew is working with isn't an architectural firm. It's HNTB, with expertise in: Architecture Aviation Bridges Construction Management Design Build Environmental Planning Highways Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Management Tolls Transit and Rail Tunnels Water Technical Excellence And, no, I do not know what all of the above means. But I do know they have deep experience in not only designing stadiums (and many top shelf practice facilities), but in project management of large developments of this nature. And they have an office in Columbus. I don't think HNTB needs help from Edwards to get these two projects (stadium and training facility) done. And while they've not (in anything I've seen) been identified as the designer of the training facility, I'd be surprised if they were not (MKSK is a landscape architecture and planning firm, and appears to be the company the Crew is working with on the overall design for the Mapfre site project; they wouldn't be the firm that would be designing the training facility or how that facility would mesh with the existing stadium structure, however).
I know that guy and had some fairly unpleasant interactions with him when he was one of my constituents when I served on the area commission. Let's just say he struggles with mental health and leave it at that.