The construction of a new stadium for Major League Soccer franchise DC United is at risk of being delayed due to ongoing protests from local real estate developers.
The club is due to break ground on the $300m (£247m/€273m) stadium in January or February 2017, with construction expected to take around 15 months.
Next month, DC United will seek approval from the DC Zoning Commission to commence construction. The club plans on moving into the stadium at some point during the 2018 season.
However, the Washington Post newspaper reports that property developer Akridge is leading a group of firms that is urging the club to rethink a design that it feels will “stifle economic development”. Protesters believe that a new stadium would not make the most of a $150m investment the DC government made to buy and prepare the land for the project.
According to the report, those against the plans have hired architects to draw up alternative plans, and called on communications firm Podesta Group to launch a campaign to hamper the team’s chances of gaining approval from the Zoning Commission.
The club insists it has already made significant changes to the original plans, including adding new storefronts, connecting a nearby street and relocating access to a loading dock.
“We’ve done all these things and they’ve cost us millions and millions of dollars,” DC United owner Jason Levien said, according to the Post. “They want us to move the trucks, they want us to move more buildings around and now they want to control the retail. I think what they’re trying to say is they can appeal and delay this development for a year, and yet they haven’t done anything down there in a decade.”
DC United received the land for the new 20,000-capacity facility earlier this month.
Share this