[Frank Cunha]

Saturday, July 10, 2004














Will taxes fund a soccer stadium?

The facility would house Utah's new major league team
By Brady Snyder
Deseret Morning News

The same day Major League Soccer confirmed it is bringing a team to Utah, some Salt Lake leaders said tax money may be needed to pay for a new stadium to house it.
A handful of Salt Lake City Council members, as well as Salt Lake County officials, have met the investors — led by former Utah Jazz President Dave Checketts — who are bringing MLS to Utah and explored the possibility of using city and county taxpayer funds to build a soccer-only stadium.
City Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love said while there will be significant private contributions to the stadium, city, county and state funds likely will be needed as well.
"I expect that those bringing the soccer team to Utah will explore funding possibilities with the city, county and state," she said. "I don't think they will be able to do this entirely with private dollars."
Councilman Dave Buhler agrees, saying the investors were "exploring options of what participation there might be from public entities" during his meeting. Salt Lake County officials also confirmed that they met with the MLS group to discuss county funding options.







But convincing public officials to spend taxpayer money on what is perceived by some as a risky endeavor — are there enough soccer fans in Utah to support an MLS franchise? — might be easier said than done.
Buhler warned that there are many other expensive public-private projects in the works in Salt Lake City.
"There's a lot of people in line," he said. "You've got the aquarium, the Utah Theatre, the Leonardo."
Council vice chairman Dale Lambert, who has not met with the MLS advocates, said he is wary of allocating city funds for the project.
"I would be very reluctant to ask the taxpayers to help in financing," he said.
And such stadiums can be pricey. While no specific price tag has been suggested for a Salt Lake facility, the New York Metro Stars announced this month they will spend $100 million to build a 25,000-seat soccer-only stadium, while the Chicago Fire will break ground on a $70 million facility soon.
Such soccer-only stadiums, which are smaller than most football stadiums, are generally thought necessary for a successful MLS team, since drawing 20,000 fans to a half-empty 50,000-seat football stadium doesn't necessarily create a frenzied atmosphere that crowds and teams enjoy.
That said, Utah's MLS franchise will likely have to play in the 45,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah for a few years until a soccer-only stadium deal can be put together.
Love, Buhler and Lambert said there may be ways the city could help without spending actual tax dollars. For instance, the city could issue industrial revenue bonds, which offer lower interest rates and don't risk tax dollars, or use Redevelopment Agency funds to secure land.
The city may have to step up to the plate financially to ensure that the soccer stadium, if one is built, isn't lost to the suburbs.
Mayor Rocky Anderson, who did not return calls seeking his position on supplying taxpayer funds for the project, is pushing for the stadium to be located in Salt Lake City and has talked with Cherokee Investment Partners about potential investment in a soccer stadium.
Cherokee is a real estate investment firm based in Raleigh, N.C., that acquires environmentally impaired assets. Essentially, what Cherokee does is purchase land valued between $10 million and $250 million, clean it up and then build on the property.
City leaders want the stadium downtown if at all possible, and the city has developed a map of the greater downtown area with various locations detailed as potential spots where the stadium could be located. One of those locations, according to sources who wished to remain anonymous, is the vacant block that billionaire Earl Holding owns just west of the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse and north of Holding's Little American Hotel, near West Temple and 500 South.
Still, some of those same sources say there is little chance Holding would give it up for a soccer stadium.
Other potential sites are industrial areas in the Gateway Mixed-Use District just west of downtown or on the 220 acres where Salt Lake City plans to build a sprawling sports complex with some 30 soccer fields and nearly a dozen softball diamonds.
The city has developed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Utah, which would facilitate the transfer of the 220-acre state-owned parcel where the sports complex is to be built, near the Davis County line between Redwood Road and I-215.
That memorandum still needs to be signed by state and city officials before a transfer of title could be worked up, Public Services Director Rick Graham said.
The city is moving forward with plans to build the sports complex on the site since that was the promise it made when voters approved a $15 million bond to fund the project, Graham said.
Putting an MLS soccer stadium on the site would be contingent on "to what extent Major League Soccer can do something without affecting what we've planned," Graham said.



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