Nashville MLS ownership reaches terms on community benefits agreement for stadium project

Joey Garrison | The Tennessean

Nashville's Major League Soccer team ownership and a group of community stakeholders said they agreed to "the majority of terms" late Monday on a closely watched agreement designed to ensure the city's proposed MLS stadium produces good-paying jobs, a child care center and affordable housing.

The preliminary community benefits agreement — billed as a "historic" deal for Tennessee — is a major boon for the MLS ownership led by businessman John Ingram as they seek final Metro Council approval of the $275 million project next week.

The agreement is expected to be finalized and formalized in the coming days.

The two sides, in a letter to the council Monday and co-signed by both parties, outlined points of agreement on guaranteed affordable housing, community services like child care, $15.50 wages for stadium workers, and a committee that will oversee the goals of the agreement.

The joint statement, which urges the council to approve pending legislation needed for the proposed stadium at the city's fairgrounds, followed months of meetings that continued into Monday afternoon.

It was released two hours before the council was set to hold a public hearing and vote on a controversial proposal to rezone 10 acres of fairgrounds land for a private development next to the stadium.

"Today, we are pleased to announce that we have come to agreement on the majority of the terms and fully expect to finalize the community benefits agreement formal document this week," the letter co-signed by Mary Cavarra of Nashville Soccer Holdings and Anne Barnett of Stand Up Nashville reads.

"This has been a historic process for Nashville and we believe our CBA will add significant and lasting impact to our community well beyond what the stadium development alone was already going to provide."

Stand Up Nashville is made up of labor unions and other community stakeholders.

The community benefits agreement would be the first of its kind in Tennessee for a major government-led project.

Ethan Link, assistance business manager of Southeast Laborers District Council — who has taken part in negotiations — said the biggest remaining issue before finalizing the agreement involves safety assurances for stadium construction workers.

Although state laws prohibit the mandating of affordable housing in private development and living wages, the community benefits agreement would be a private contract between the MLS club and Stand Up Nashville.

The affordable housing and day care center involve the 10 acres of fairgrounds land next to the stadium that Ingram, lead owner of Nashville Soccer Club, would develop into housing, retail, a hotel and other amenities if the project goes through.

The community benefits announcement came after Mayor David Briley, who is pushing for the stadium from the city's end, earlier in the day issued an open letter to Nashville that gave his most forceful pitch yet for approval of a project that he inherited from former Mayor Megan Barry.

"Make no mistake about it: Nashville is a soccer city," Briley said in the letter, later saying, "Now we just have to close the deal."

He pointed, among other things, to the community benefits agreement in the works.

"This deal is a new way of doing business in Nashville, one that will guarantee minority business opportunities, create affordable housing and provide for new cultural and community space," Briley said. "And none of it will harm the existing fairgrounds uses."

The two sides say they have agreed to the following:

Setting aside affordable housing

The MLS team ownership has committed to set aside a minimum of 12 percent of residential units as affordable and an additional 8 percent of workforce housing in a housing development next to the stadium.

Rents of both affordable and workforce housing would be price at 30 percent or less of the indexed household income.

In addition, 20 percent of the affordable and workforce housing units would be three-bedroom.

Providing child care, community services

The ownership would ensure a 4,000-square-foot child care center on the site of the private development. Stand Up Nashville and the club would work with Childcare Tennessee to develop a business plan to address tuition. It will include an income-based sliding scale.

The soccer club would reserve an additional 4,000 square feet of retail space for a "micro-unit incubator" for artisans and small business merchants. Residents who live within a high-poverty area known as a Promise Zone would receive below-market rental rates.

Under the agreement, the MLS club would also donate new or used soccer equipment and accessories to Metro schools, host annual clinics for soccer coaches and youth soccer organizations, provide free tickets to MLS matches and offer a variety of soccer-related programs.

Jobs to pay at least $15.50 an hour

All jobs for stadium operations would pay at least $15.50 an hour, and all employees would be directly hired by the club. This includes guest services, janitorial, field maintenance and other jobs.

The two sides would establish a "first-source referral program" to ensure that jobs go to applicants most in need of the work. The club would have a program coordinator who would work with Nashville's Promise Subzone Captains to recruit and refer low-income residents and support the services.

The MLS team has also committed to hiring "qualified local residents at all levels" of the organization and provide educational and professional development opportunities.

Under the preliminary agreement, the club would ensure that the 10-acre mixed-use development provide opportunities for local minority business and construction managers who meet criteria.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.