Dive Brief:
- D.C. United, according to public records, has secured two stadium construction loans totaling $120 million, according to the Washington Business Journal.
- Goldman Sachs reportedly loaned the soccer club $95 million, and the remaining $25 million came from Maryland-based EagleBank.
- The EagleBank loan, according to the Business Journal, was obtained via the Washington, DC, PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program, which finances building improvements that promote energy efficiency.
Dive Insight:
The PACE-based funding is another way that the District has helping the $300 million project along financially. Washington, DC, and the team are already operating under a deal that has seen the city promise to contribute half of the facility's costs through a package of land, site work and necessary infrastructure improvements. The two parties will also split cost overruns up to $20 million.
The team and city have come a long way from when city officials were skeptical of the project's chance of success and required team owners to establish a $5 million escrow account to protect the city's investment.
The project's design approval process was also fraught with drama. Team owners had to redesign some aspects of the stadium after city officials disparaged the original aesthetic, with one saying it looked like a prison. Area businesses and landowners also protested the project's design, arguing that it would not lure visitors into the broader business district due to its layout and lack of street-front retail. The team then implemented a redesign to attempt to quell those concerns.
D.C. United hired Turner Construction to build the 19,400-seat stadium under a $150 million contract, and construction kicked off in March after securing final design approval. The project is expected to create approximately 1,000 construction and permanent jobs and generate $1 billion of local economic benefit.
