Compare Collinsville/St Louis MLS stadium plans to Jenks' River District... rinse, repeat...
http://collinsvilleherald.stltoday.com/articles/2008/08/27/news/sj2tn20080827-0827cvj-cooper.ii1.txtSoccer stadium developer may balk at league fees
Cooper now says they may look to another groupBy Chris Coates
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:15 AM CDT
The attorney who has spent a year wooing investors to fund a $573 million mixed-use soccer stadium complex now admits a key piece of the plan - a new Major League Soccer expansion team to be housed on the Collinsville site - may be too costly."We have to look at this as a business decision," said Jeff Cooper, chairman of St. Louis Soccer United, a group that's spearheaded the effort to secure a professional men's soccer team in the region.
The effort has focused largely on building a 18,500-seat stadium and retail center at Horseshoe Lake Road and Interstate 255 to lure the sport's biggest association, Major League Soccer, to grant St. Louis an expansion team. But Cooper, who has been aggressively recruiting investors for the project, last week said that MLS has steadily increased the cost of adding a team, and the sum now totals around $50 million, far higher than they were originally told.With the investment team finally in place, he said, some are questioning, even rejecting, the MLS price tag.
"We're not going to pay so much," Cooper said.
He said some are pushing to start looking at another association, United Soccer Leagues, a lower-bracket group with several dozen teams across the country, including the St. Louis Lions.
Cooper said USL is an option if the MLS fees prove too high."If they're unreasonable with the price, we can go elsewhere," he said.
That could happen as soon as this fall. St. Louis Soccer United plans to submit its plans to the league within the next few weeks, long before an Oct. 15 deadline.
MLS officials have said they could announce a decision about two expansions - the league's 17th and 18th teams - next year before March. Portland, Ore.; Atlanta; Las Vegas; Montreal; Ottawa and Vancouver are also in the running, along with a second team in the New York City area. That six-month lag, however, puts the rest of the project in a major holding pattern.
Cooper wants the stadium to sit amid a massive retail and residential complex totaling about 400 acres along I-255, from Horseshoe Lake Road to Interstate 55/70.Preliminary plans released earlier this month by Webster Groves, Mo., architects Suttle Mindlin show the complex radiating from Interstate 255 and Fairmont Avenue, an existing street that traverses from Eastport Plaza west over I-255 and south beyond Interstate 55/70. Most of the project would sit on corn and soybean fields, with a main entrance running south from Horseshoe Lake Road, forming a boulevard that divides the site's uses. Retail, a movie theater and the soccer stadium would sit to the east, with homes, a hotel and youth soccer complex to the west. Some residences would also rise near I-55/70.
The project, called The Fields, would rely heavily on retail - around 1 million square feet in dozens of storefronts, including several spaces for big box stores, according to a site plan by East Alton-based Crossroads Development Group.Crossroads partner Jamey Berg said the company has marketed the project to numerous retailers, including last spring at a Las Vegas trade show, with positive response.
But Berg also said they're holding back from a full push until an MLS agreement is inked.
"We're standing ready as soon as MLS is ready," he said.
Cooper said he's also anxious to roll out final plans.
Asked whether it's the best time to invest in retail given the dire economic climate, Cooper admitted it was a worry, even though indications show the trend is ebbing up. By the time they start any construction, at least 24 months away, the economic picture may improve, Cooper said.
"Everybody's concerned," he said. "But the good news is, we're not building today."So far no leases have been signed, he said.
"We didn't want to jump the gun," Cooper said. "Now that we're close, we'll start that."
Also cautious, he said, is his group of investors, whom Cooper will not reveal until the project starts. He said the roster includes four or five single investors based locally and internationally. The city is aware of the investor list, he said."It's a good mix," said Cooper, who made millions in asbestos settlements through his East Alton firm, SimmonsCooper LLC.
Despite the concerns, Cooper is bullish that MLS will grant St. Louis a team. He said the group has done everything the league wanted.
"I don't know what else we can do," he said.
If approved, the project still faces numerous approvals from the city and Madison County. The parcel, which includes unincorporated county land, is mostly farmland, save for six small homes. Cooper said the project will surround those properties, whose owners have rejected offers from the developer.
Collinsville City Manager Robert Knabel said the city is looking forward to hearing from MLS. They're still confident the league will side with Cooper, Knabel said.
"We're optimistic," he said.
