DYNAMO STADIUM: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE LOCATION MAKE? “Talk to Houston Dynamo CEO Oliver Luck, and you get a much different view of the depth of Bellaire-area stadium proposal by the Midway Companies that’s taken on a life of its own in the past week, largely due to the buzz phrase, ‘privately funded.’ ‘We have not been presented a plan by the Midway Companies,’ Luck said. ‘I can’t say whether there’s “no public money” involved. ‘We (the Dynamo) won’t talk to the city or county about this deal — we have pushed that responsibility to Midway. We know what our conditions are, and basically, it’s replicating the financial structure of the downtown deal. That’s sort of a threshhold question. If they can do that, we’ll go ahead. If they can’t, it won’t happen.’ Under the East Downtown (a district now known as EaDo) deal, the Dynamo would pay about $60 million with the city of Houston and Harris County each guaranteeing about $10 million through a special tax reinvestment district.” [West University Examiner; previously on Swamplot]
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Having driven the Westpark location the other day, I’m struck by a few things. 1) the neighborhood feared to be destroyed by the lumbering football monster is not that great. Nor does it appear they’d be terribly affected by the development, as the midway site sits on the opposite side of a hefty Centerpoint right of way, above which run some very high-power, brain-cancer inducing transmission lines. I’d think the power lines would depress the property values more than the stadium. And they live by Sam’s. 2) there’s a ton of work that would need to be done by the City and County that in all likelihood would far outpace the $10M in TIRZ funding currently being asked.
So, we have a location that’s ready to go, with a civic association that actually wants this development, in an area of town already built to handle heavy traffic influx that already supports the mega-palaces built to house other sports teams. I would hope that our elected officials recognize their constituent’s needs will be better served by the Dynamo’s $60,000,000 investment than by a jail.
FullDisclosure: I bleed Wildcatter Orange and I stand to benefit personally and spiritually from the construction of Dynamo Park.
The Midway location is not as strong as some others. If they want an alternative to the downtown site, I’d rather they propose the PlazAmericas mall.
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From a demographic standpoint, it’d beat the Midway AND downtown locations. From a transit and access standpoint, it’d beat the Midway location. The stadium could benefit from the existing parking and drainage at the mall. The mall could use the stadium as a desperately needed anchor.
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http://civcarchitect.blogspot.com/2010/01/third-option-for-dynamo-plaz-americas.html
Houston soccer team stadium + high-voltage power lines = Dynamo Hummmm
Nord is right on the money about many things.
First (and perhaps most important to me personallY), I have been pushing the name Dynamo Park over Dynamo Stadium for a long time. The Texas Parkhead is a winner!
Second, the East End location is a complete winner. This is NOT the deal that led to the graft that resulted in MinuteMaid/Enron Field, Toyota Arena and Reliant Stadium. This IS a private-funded deal, with the TIRZ money going for infrastructure and improvements.
The County today did ask the important question of who will own it. That’s a good question, but not a deal-killer in any sense. No matter who owns Dynamo Park, it’s value to the community is manyfold.