Dear Colleagues,
In December of 2017, staff distributed a memo noting several city-owned sites that could be considered as potential locations for a major league soccer stadium. Among the possibilities was 10414 McKalla Lane, a property that has required environmental remediation and is currently used as a storage site by Austin Water, Austin Resource Recovery, and Public Works. (Note that real estate has also raised the possibility of examining this site for possible affordable housing development.)
I am sponsoring a resolution (with co-sponsors Mayor Adler, CM Pool, CM Renteria, and CM Kitchen) directing the City Manager to conduct a deeper analysis of this site for a major league soccer stadium and to begin a stakeholder process. I believe this research and engagement will yield a deeper understanding of any challenges, revenue-sharing opportunities, and community benefits that could be associated with a major league soccer team coming to Austin.
The resolution will post tomorrow for the 3/22 Council meeting agenda to ensure robust community feedback, but since Council Member Pool will not be here on 3/22 and the site falls within District 7, I will move to postpone it to a future Council meeting. As we discussed today, Mayor Adler, CM Garza, CM Troxclair, and I will miss the meeting on 4/12 – so I’m not sure right now whether we would postpone to 4/12, 4/26, or some other date.
I do hope we’ll be able to consider the resolution as soon as possible.
In related news, Precourt Ventures announced today that it has a strong interest in looking more closely at this site:
https://www.statesman.com/sports/soccer ... eYF29hzbL/
I remain enthusiastic about continuing this conversation, particularly about the community benefits that could be generated by such a partnership. As always, please feel free to use this forum to put forth any questions or concerns.
Best,
Kathie