THE purple-clad faithful who packed Louisville City Hall on Thursday night had to wait much longer than any injury time, extra time or penalties previously endured in any nail-biting match-up, but in the end got the result they had been longing for almost two years.
Considering the development of a soccer-specific stadium and mixed-use development, Louisville Metro Council voted 20-4 in favor of a $30 million bond to kickoff regeneration of brownfield sites in the Butchertown district of the city which will eventually result in a state-of-the art, 10,000-seat home for Louisville City FC.
“I’m pleased that the Metro Council voted to approve this public-private partnership that takes an underused, very visible swath of land and creates a vibrant new soccer stadium district that builds on the city’s momentum and creates over 1,700 jobs,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer in a statement following the vote. Mayor Fischer had championed the development from its earliest stages. “This is a smart opportunity, and when smart opportunities to move our city forward come up, we grab them.”
Two more resolutions also passed to wild applause after a five-and-half hour marathon Metro Council session in deliberation attended by not only the scores of LouCity supporters but also club ownership, board, staff and the entire player and coaching squad.
The wait was worth it though as the council approved issuing bonds totaling some $30 million to assist in the purchase of close to 40 acres in Butchertown at a cost of $24.2 million. Up to $200,000 was cleared for any work needed to clean up the site environmentally, with $5 million earmarked for development of infrastructure for the site.
The deal passed calls for LouCity FC to purchase the land and pay back $14.5 million in lease payments over the next 20 years. LouCity ownership will also guarantee spending at least $45 million on the stadium development and have pledged to generate an additional $85 million in private investment to the project in the form of office, hotel, parking and retail developments.
In addition to the lease payments, the city is expected to recoup tens of millions of dollars in property taxes – a win-win for the city and truly a positive private/public partnership which will result in a beautiful 10,000-seat showpiece stadium, bringing LouCity compliant with USL requirements by the year 2020 and worthy of the club’s incredible, loyal support.
Councilperson Barbara Sexton Smith, whose downtown-area district includes the stadium site described the deal as a “great agreement.”
“If for some reason that development number is not hit, then there is going to be language that guarantees that the city’s money is repaid –and how and when that money is repaid,” she said.
In addition to developing brownfield sites around Butchertown, the development is also expected to create additional private developments while creating thousands of local jobs.
The club has worked tirelessly and campaigned hard through it ownership, sponsors, partners, staff and most importantly supporters over the last two seasons to reach this plateau. Many are to be commended, but much work still has to be done.
And while it took some extra time, in this case even AFTER the 11th hour – 11:30pm on Thursday, October 26, 2017, will go down in club history as the moment when a dream became reality.
A proud moment for LouCity and its supporters indeed.
