The public contribution to a new professional soccer stadium Downtown, a revamped practice facility at Mapfre Stadium and a city recreational park surrounding the current stadium has grown by at least $25 million, to $140 million, since the project was unveiled in December.

And with a “funding date” of Aug. 15 looming for the team owners and the public partners to finalize the deal, no agreement has yet been reached to purchase land for both the Downtown stadium and the recreation area adjacent to Mapfre, a draft agreement shows.

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The city of Columbus and Franklin County, public-funding partners in the deal along with the state of Ohio and a yet-to-be-created stadium authority, “agree to use best efforts to cause" the properties to change hands for the project, the draft agreement states.

But Dave Jenkins, executive vice president of Haslam Sports Group, said Monday that "considering how fast we've been moving," it's remarkable to have a deal in principle already. "We are on track to have shovel in the ground this October in the Arena District," Jenkins said.

The stadium itself, proposed on a site a few blocks west of the Huntington Park baseball stadium, would cost $244.9 million, including city infrastructure work but not including the cost of acquiring the land. Most of the site is owned by Nationwide Reality Investors, a division of Columbus-based Nationwide.

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The team must have a land-purchase agreement with Nationwide Realty by Aug. 15 unless it exercises options to extend the deadline by up to a year. Nationwide Realty officials couldn't be reached Monday for comment on the status of negotiations.

The pieces for a deal "have been put in place,” said Franklin County Administrator Kenneth Wilson. The county is not involved in the talks, he added, but the city is “very much linked” to them.

“All parties agree that it’s a deal that has to get done,” Wilson said.



The city has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum toward the land purchase, but city Development Director Steve Schoeny said it isn't clear if any city money will be needed. And if it is, he said, the team must repay the amount.

Also new to the most recent iteration of the plan is that a new public-private stadium authority — governed by a board representing the city, county, the team and the authority — would have the power to tax the mixed-use developments envisioned adjacent to the stadium. That money would be used to issue $25 million in bonds backed by its revenue.

Schoeny said the developer is agreeing to tax its own development, but part of that involves "tax increment financing," or property taxes on improvements that the owners would have been paid anyway but were diverted to the project.

The city also is to make $28 million in three cash payments to the new authority. Schoeny says that's earmarked for the sports park project, but the agreement says it is "available to fund project costs" and can be used to reimburse the team. The city would be responsible for building the sports park, which is expected to cost $12 million.

The authority also is to own Mapfre and its adjacent city sports park. The team would control Mapfre as a practice facility.

The new stadium, now not expected to be completed until at least July 2021, is projected to have up to 20,500 seats, including up to 24 suites and up to 2,000 club and loge seats. A joint venture between the Turner and Smoot construction companies is named in the agreement as the designer-builder of the stadium, but it notes that is subject to change.

The new stadium is designed to be the centerpiece of the "Confluence Village" development that would include 270,000 square feet of commercial and office space and 885 residential units.

In December, the stadium backers announced a plan that included $100 million in public funding — $50 million each from the city and county — and it later secured $15 million from the state.

But the current value of the county's contribution is now $45 million. That's because the county’s contribution will be $2.5 million a year for 30 years, or $75 million, which officials say could be used to secure a $45 million loan at present interest rates.

While the county's contribution dropped by $5 million since December, the state of Ohio's is up by $5 million, for a total of $20 million, which brings the total public contribution to $140 million.

While city officials said in December that no city money would go toward construction of the stadium itself, the draft agreement makes it clear that “land acquisition costs” are exempted from that prohibition.

The team’s contribution is defined as an amount no less than $140 million. However, a provision says that all net proceeds of the authority’s $25 million bond issue “shall be made available for reimbursement of the developer contribution.”

While the new authority would own the stadium, the facility's “acquisition, design, construction and development” would be controlled by the team, which would pay $10 a year to use the stadium for 30 years, with options to extend those terms another 30 years. The team has veto power over the city, county or new authority imposing any “special taxes, fees or assessments” on the team, stadium or Major League Soccer.

The team, meanwhile, would market, control and have the rights to all revenue from the new stadium. That includes naming rights, but no name can be “objectionable” to the city or county.

Stadium maintenance is to be the team's responsibility, though the governmental parties will use their "best efforts" to raise another $250,000 a year for stadium repairs, or $7.5 million over the 30-year contract, the draft agreement states.

The team must have a deal with the league in place to operate the Crew in Columbus — including a 30-year non-relocation agreement — by the mid-August funding date. The league is fully behind the project, said Ted Tywang, general counsel for Haslam Sports Group.

In December, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said the city's contribution to the new stadium would include donating land — about 9 acres at the site, according to county property records. Five of the city's acres would go for a new riverfront park along the Olentangy River, just north of Confluence Park and Route 33. Schoeny said the city would swap 7.5 acres it owns at the site and get in return about 6 acres it would use for the riverside park, a public plaza and new roads.

The rest of the proposed Confluence Village site is owned by Nationwide Realty Investors, which purchased 13 parcels from casino developers Columbus Gaming Ventures in 2011 for $11 million.

The Ohio Expositions Commission board controls the land under and around Mapfre Stadium needed for the proposed city park. The Mapfre lease with the Crew expires in June 2023.

In March, Virgil Strickler, general manager of the Ohio Expo Center, said he opposed the planned sports park because it would consume parking needed for the state fair and other events. He said he was never contacted by community leaders before they announced the stadium plan.

Negotiations regarding the state land continue, Robin Davis, Ginther’s spokeswoman, said Monday.

bbush@dispatch.com

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