Soccer Stadium Planners Consider Site in Third Ward

Markitect · Jan 6, 2006

Here's a new article from the Small Business Times...

Soccer Stadium Planners Consider Site in Third Ward

By Andrew Weiland, of SBT

Can Milwaukee Professional Soccer LLC pull off its ambitious plans to build a massive mixed-use development, including a 20,000-seat soccer stadium, in downtown Milwaukee? We may find out this year if the company is for real. Their goal is to have a Major League Soccer (MLS) team playing in Milwaukee starting in 2008. To have the stadium built on time for the 2008 season, construction must begin by August this year, said Peter Wilt, chief executive officer of the company. Attorney Martin J. Greenberg, Milwaukee area businessman Rick Bergman and Milwaukee doctors James Mazzulla and Ashok Kumar formed Pegasus ParkEast Partners LLC to be the sole managing member of Milwaukee Professional Soccer LLC. They hired Wilt last year. He launched the Chicago Fire expansion team in 1998.

They have met with city officials, some of whom are taking their plans seriously. "I think soccer is a very interesting idea for Milwaukee," said Alderman Robert Bauman, who represents the downtown area. "I actually think it's feasible." However, the group has a lot of work to do before construction of the soccer stadium can begin. They need to obtain: a 30-acre site in the downtown area, a commitment from MLS to grant Milwaukee an expansion team, more investors and city approval for the project. The group hopes to secure an option this spring with MLS to provide a team to Milwaukee. "The first quarter of 2006 is going to be critical for this project," Wilt said.

The soccer stadium would only take up about eight of the 30 acres in the development, Wilt said. The rest of the property would be developed mostly with condominiums, but also with some office space and some retail space. Milwaukee Professional Soccer is working with Washington, D.C.-based Global Equity Partners LLC on the real estate development. The total cost of the project would be more than $500 million, Wilt said.
To put the project in perspective, it would have a more expensive development price tag than Miller Park or the now defunct PabstCity project.
The additional commercial and residential development is critical to financing construction of the stadium, Wilt said.

"Real estate is driving the project," he said. "The revenue from the real estate is going to be used to underwrite the stadium. The stadium is almost a loss leader. Operating the team and the stadium will be profitable, but the debt service for (building) the stadium has to come from elsewhere."
Milwaukee Professional Soccer knows that "elsewhere" cannot come from a new tax, such as the sales tax that was used to build Miller Park for the Milwaukee Brewers, Wilt said. There is no political support for another publicly financed sports stadium, said Department of City Development spokeswoman Andrea Rowe Richards.

Milwaukee Professional Soccer hopes a tax incremental financing (TIF) district could be used to fund the project. But, it would be a developer-financed TIF and not a city-financed TIF, Wilt said. A TIF may have political support, "if the TIF is supported privately so the city is not holding the bag," Wilt said. "If it's developer-financed there'd be considerably fewer obstacles," Bauman said. As implied by the name of Pegasus ParkEast Partners, they originally wanted to build the stadium in the Park East freeway corridor. However, city officials balked at those plans.

"(City Planner Robert) Greenstreet and (Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky) Marcoux do not want a stadium on that land," Wilt said. So, the group is looking for sites elsewhere downtown, which he declined to identify. Bauman said the group is looking at the parking area near the Italian Community Center and the Summerfest grounds in the Historic Third Ward. "We do have a preferred site we are talking to land owners and the city about," Wilt said. "The biggest challenge is securing the site. We're trying to secure a minimum of 30 acres. That's a big chunk." For more information about Milwaukee Professional Soccer LLC visit: www.milwaukeeprosoccer.com.
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fclalala · Jan 7, 2006

Markitect said:

Here's a new article from the Small Business Times...
Click to expand...

A developer financed TIF should overcome a lot of the political objections.

Minnman · Jan 10, 2006

It's quiet... too quiet.

At least that's my hope. No real news, no rumors, nothing. Peter's been pretty scarce on these boards, as well. Then there was the December 31 "deadline" for wanna-be expansion cities to get on board before the expansion fee goes up. Hmmmmm....

My assumption (and it's only that) is that the lack of news is not necessarily a bad sign, especially as it extends to bad news, as well, so that's something. There's probably a ton of work taking place below the radar. If, indeed, construction needs to commence by Labor Day, one can assume we'd know something several months beforehand - at the very least for season ticket deposits.