Nashville MLS owner: Scrapping fairgrounds stadium plan would cost city team

The lead owner of Nashville's Major League Soccer expansion franchise warned Thursday that scrapping a plan to build a soccer stadium at the city's fairgrounds would cost Nashville its recently awarded team.

The pointed letter from billionaire team owner John Ingram — addressed to acting Vice Mayor Sheri Weiner — comes as two council members have proposed a resolution that seeks to reopen talks on a stadium site to consider other city-owned properties instead.

Ingram, pointing to the council's 31-6 vote in November to approve $225 million in revenue bond funding for the $275 million project, said the bond agreement was specifically made for the fairgrounds.

As a result, he said the ownership group is now contractually obligated by the club's agreement with the league to provide a stadium at the fairgrounds.

"Failing to build a site at The Fairgrounds Nashville will find us in default of our agreement, expose us to significant damages and would cost the city its MLS team," said Ingram, CEO and president of Nashville Soccer Holdings LLC as well as Nashville Soccer Club.

► More: MLS grants Nashville expansion club, propelling Music City from underdog to 'soccer city'

New bill would remove language that stadium go at fairgrounds

MLS formally awarded Nashville an expansion team in December, with the city beating out Cincinnati, Sacramento and Detroit. The league hasn't announced when the Nashville team will begin play. The fact Nashville had secured stadium funding was one of the key reasons its bid won.

But a new resolution sponsored by council members Steve Glover and DeCosta Hastings would remove language approved by the council in November that required the 27,500-seat stadium be built at the city's fairgrounds.

A spokesman for MLS did not immediately return a request for comment.

Hastings, who voted for the original stadium deal, has now pushed for the stadium to go on city-owned parks property next to Ted Rhodes Park in MetroCenter, which is in his North Nashville council district.

Earlier this year, Hastings had a resolution drafted that sought explicitly to relocate the stadium proposal to the MetroCenter property if the fairgrounds was found unfeasible. He later shelved the legislation.

Glover, who was among the six council members who voted against the stadium deal, has criticized unauthorized pre-development spending undertaken by the city on the project, which was reported in a series of stories from WSMV-TV.

"It doesn't take away the fairgrounds, but it also says we need to look at other options of property as opposed to just stick with the fairgrounds," Glover said of his legislation. "I'm not really certain that there's any other land that was ever looked at. And I never agreed to giving away 10 acres of free land. I always thought that was a bad deal."

► More: Nashville MLS expansion team not expected to begin play in 2019

Asked to respond to Ingram's letter, Glover reiterated his point that the resolution would not eliminate the fairgrounds as an option.

"I don't take it as a warning," he said, signaling that he plans to move forward with the resolution.

Mayor on stadium site: 'That decision's been made'

Nashville's MLS stadium plan was one of the biggest political wins of former Mayor Megan Barry, who resigned from office this month. But leading up to the site's approval in November, staunch supporters of the fairgrounds — which also hosts auto racing, an annual state fair, flea markets and expo center events — blasted the move to add a new soccer stadium on site.

Mayor David Briley, who was vice mayor when the council approved the stadium bond resolution, said he opposes the new proposal pushed by Glover and Hastings.

"That decision's been made," he said, referring to the stadium site.

Ingram said the Nashville ownership group has already made a significant financial investment to secure Nashville's MLS bid, a reference to the $150 million expansion fee that the league requires clubs pay.

"This was the site offered to us by Metro government after significant due diligence executed by the city, and it was the only site included in our winning MLS expansion team bid," Ingram said.

"It is my hope that we can put the idea to rest that our future MLS stadium can somehow be moved to another location after the fact," he said. "We believe this site has always been the best choice, and we are eager to join the fairgrounds community."

More votes remain for MLS stadium

The team has circled the end of this year to begin construction on the stadium. The city is currently overseeing construction of a new park and recreational soccer fields on the fairgrounds site — a plan that was authorized before the MLS stadium plan.

Metro Department of Law Director Jon Cooper has said the city would face considerable liability if it ditched the fairgrounds site because of its agreement with the club.

The council voted 16-8, with seven abstentions last week, to defeat an effort supported by Glover and Hastings to rescind Nashville's stadium deal. That's a sign their new resolution is likely a long shot to pass.

►More: Nashville council defeats proposal to rescind Major League Soccer stadium deal

But Ingram and his ownership group are taking the effort seriously.

That's because although the bond resolution was approved last fall, the council still must approve legislation to tear down buildings at the fairgrounds, finalize a lease agreement with the team and rezone the property before the bonds are issued and the stadium is built.

The project also still needs $50 million in general obligation bonds issued for fairgrounds upgrades and site infrastructure work.

The rezoning is needed because of a plan to redevelop 10 acres of fairgrounds land that would be used for a mixed-use project that the ownership group would profit from.

The demolition bill faces a high bar for approval from 27 council members in the 40-member body. Neither the rezoning nor demolition bills, nor the general obligation bond resolution, have been filed.

Glover and Hastings did not file the resolution in time for it to be added to next Tuesday's council agenda, meaning it won't be taken up until the April 17 meeting unless they ask for a suspension of rules. Glover said he will likely just wait.

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