North Carolina FC/Raleigh MLS Expansion Superthread

Discussion in 'Charlotte FC' started by reedinthewind, Apr 1, 2012.

  1. reedinthewind

    reedinthewind Member

    Oct 12, 2006
    Club:
    DC United
    Durham obviously has a lot of potential with the ATD and the new DAP, however, I would like to see a stadium just south of Downtown off to the east of where 401 becomes S Sounders, I think MLS becomes Western right there.
     
  2. CHHSfan

    CHHSfan Member

    Oct 30, 2010
    Chapel Hill
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When I go by that car dealership near American Tobacco, I always think it would be a good spot if they could squeeze it in. Lots of parking, plenty to do, close to downtown, but it might keep some Raleigh fans away with the distance.
     
  3. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You already have a stadium location in Cary. It's just a matter of upgrading it when the time comes.
     
  4. teucer

    teucer Member

    Dec 17, 2009
    Raleigh, NC, USA
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And it is already being upgraded (though so far only to 10K seats).
     
  5. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The point is, Raleigh-Durham is demonstrably ahead of the game. You can plant an MLS-class stadium at WakeMed easily. It's very convenient to Raleigh, and Durham and Chapel Hill are closer than Frisco is to Dallas. You have a site, you just need an owner to take the site all the way.
     
  6. CHHSfan

    CHHSfan Member

    Oct 30, 2010
    Chapel Hill
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wakemed does have plans for expansion, plans for better accessibility by roads, ample room for parking, and plenty of facilities surrounding it. The remodel to a proper MLS stadium would be tougher, but definitely not impossible. Cary is growing and has a soccer friendly population. The big thing for Wakemed to be made to an MLS stadium is that it would have to have stuff built near it to be a great experience like it should be.
     
  7. Goforthekill

    Goforthekill Member

    Aug 13, 2011
    Minnesota
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think Wake Med would be a very good place for an MLS team temporarily if not permanently. How much can WakeMed be expanded to reasonably or would they need to build a new stadium on or off site? How far is Cary from the downtowns?
     
  8. Goforthekill

    Goforthekill Member

    Aug 13, 2011
    Minnesota
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think that Traffic could be a reasonable owner. and the Don needs to see a rise in attendance and fan support before he puts a team there. just like in minnesota.
     
  9. RAL_United

    RAL_United Member

    Nov 1, 2011
    Raleigh
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Town of Cary has a master plan to expand the current stadium to 13,000 by start of 2013 season. Included in the master plan is a Phase 4 (or way in the future) plan to build a new 20-25k seat stadium about where the pond is.

    The stadium is far from both Raleigh and Durham downtowns. Downtown Cary is non-existent. In my opinion, Cary is a tough draw for a lot of fans and its very hard to convince the casual fan in the region to go. Whereas, if it was a downtown Raleigh (or maybe Durham) stadium then fans could go to restaurants, bars, and shops before/after games.

    The site that I have always pictured for the soccer stadium is bounded by Peace St to the North, West to the West, Capital to the East, and an extended Tucker St to the South (right between 2 railroads -- RAILhawks!!) and served by two future light rail stations. Man, Glenwood South would be an awesome atmosphere on game days!!
     
  10. reedinthewind

    reedinthewind Member

    Oct 12, 2006
    Club:
    DC United
    yes! thats a great spot. WakeMed is ok, but it falls in the old way of doing things, where the stadiums are in the burbs. Now we have a new model and we need to stick to it. Plus downtown raleigh is almost booming. Great fit and now is the time.
     
  11. RAL_United

    RAL_United Member

    Nov 1, 2011
    Raleigh
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If you haven't had the chance, check out Houston Dynamo's new stadium! Very cool! Imagine something like that in American Tobacco District or Glenwood South. (95 million dollars sounds like the total cost by the way)
     
  12. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As a Raleigh resident, the area of Capitol Boulevard just south of downtown has alot of potential. An SSS on the old Devereaux Meadows site, I think, has tremendous potential. Then the stretch of Capitol north of there could be turned into an extension to Glenwood South, culminating with a park/picnic area by Crabtree Creek.
     
  13. RAL_United

    RAL_United Member

    Nov 1, 2011
    Raleigh
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Being from Raleigh, I'd prefer downtown Durham over Cary even though its further away. The pre- and post-game atmosphere and options would just be so much better! The one concern with the car dealership location would be that the soccer season overlaps with baseball so it would be a nightmare if both occurred the same night! Maybe another downtown Durham option would be the Farmers Market block (at Hunt St & Morris St)? Within 1/2 mile of the proposed light rail station too!

    In my opinion, any stadium built would have to be multi-purpose to host high school football/soccer championships, concerts, maybe a pro lacrosse team, or big-time tennis tournament in order for there to be any public money involved which I believe will be a necessity.
     
  14. EPJr

    EPJr Member+

    Los Angeles FC
    United States
    Mar 21, 2009
    Richmond VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  15. Initial B

    Initial B Member

    Jan 29, 2014
    Club:
    Ottawa Fury
    I guess they were planning on a Tuesday Release, but somebody leaked it early? I still think Garber would prefer it in Charlotte to be closer to Atlanta, but I guess whichever market in the Carolinas provides the best chance of survival will get it.
     
    CharlottetownFC and msilverstein47 repped this.
  16. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  17. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    While the original site plan had a plot (still undeveloped) that was marked "future MLS stadium" back in 2001, there is no way they're building an MLS stadium at that location unless all the other alternatives fail.

    There is no good way to get in or out of that property from the highway. And given the placement of the railroad and other on/off ramps, there's no viable way to change it.
     
  18. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Considering that WakeMed Stadium was created specifically for the WUSA Courage (the original plan had a "stadium field" with a capacity of around 1,000 - but the plans changed in 2001 when the Orlando Tempest were unable to secure a stadium and relocated to UNC's Fetzer Field shortly before the inaugural WUSA season). I think the 10,000 seat WakeMed is more than adequate for an NWSL team - until proven otherwise.
     
    msilverstein47 repped this.
  19. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    The rumors I'm hearing are that something more central to the metro region would be preferred. I take that to mean something near the airport off of either 40 or 540 or both.

    Honestly, as much as I'd love to have a downtown Durham stadium, I would think something off of I-40 between the end of the Durham Freeway to Aviation Parkway, or off of I-540 from US-70 to NC-54 would probably be the most convenient to the largest percentage of the RDU population. Certainly better than downtown Raleigh or downtown Durham. And I just explained the issues with WakeMed Stadium.
     
    msilverstein47 repped this.
  20. RAL_United

    RAL_United Member

    Nov 1, 2011
    Raleigh
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Here's an overlay of DC United's stadium at the Red Hat Amphitheater site. Another site I seem to hear brought up a lot is the Heritage Park block. Seems perfect if the proposal includes replacement housing for current residents nearby.
     

    Attached Files:

  21. BookerT

    BookerT Member

    Mar 27, 2007
    NC
    Andy, when you say "preferred," do you mean that the league prefers that location? Or is that Malik's preference? Just curious.

    NCFC's chances hinge on getting the stadium location right. If Malik is pushing for a non-downtown location that is central to the Triangle, I hope he either has MLS' blessing or a preponderance of evidence (market research, surveys, etc) that soccer fans here would be equally willing to go to games in such a location. If he goes out on a limb and the league doesn't bend on their downtown preference, our chances could be toast. (Disclaimer: I live near downtown Raleigh and would love to be able to walk or bike to games, but a 15 minute drive would not be a deal breaker for me. Can't speak for other fans downtown.)
     
  22. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Yeah, I don't buy that at all. If people want the product, they'll find it (Patriots in Foxborough). If people don't want the product, you can put it in their front yard and they'll still find something else to do.

    NCFC's chances hinge and the ability of Malik and partners to show the liquid capital necessary to get the team up and running and continue operations as long as a viable stadium plan. Viability does mean a usable location (i.e. not in Zebulon or Pittsboro), but much more important is the ability of the investors to articulate and execute their business plan.

    And there is no "one size fits all" solution to stadium location. Sporting KC's stadium is about as far from downtown as any in the league, yet they've sold out pretty much every game since they moved to that location in 2008 (though with a cap of 10,385 the first three years).

    Raleigh-Durham doesn't have a downtown. It has two. And they're 28 miles apart. Putting a stadium in downtown Raleigh would pretty much exclude the western half of the metro area and you could say the opposite with downtown Durham. As the Triangle would be on the smaller end, any placement that makes it difficult for a significant section of the population to attend is problematic.

    I've been to most stadiums in the league over the years and many of the other big U.S. markets. Raleigh-Durham might have the worst traffic problem of them all. There is really one one East-West corridor. I-40. There are no viable parallel routes. U.S. 70, NC 54, U.S 64, none of them offer any real throughput. When I-40 melts down, nobody gets between Durham/Chapel Hill and Raleigh/West Cary.

    I stopped shooting weekday NHL games as it has become damn near impossible to make the trip from Durham or Carrboro if I leave after 4pm. And thats a normal work day.
     
  23. amadora2700

    amadora2700 Member

    Jan 12, 2017
    Brooklyn, NY
  24. amadora2700

    amadora2700 Member

    Jan 12, 2017
    Brooklyn, NY
  25. amadora2700

    amadora2700 Member

    Jan 12, 2017
    Brooklyn, NY

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