St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman says Major League Soccer feels the vacant lot at Snelling and University avenues in the Midway district “is a very viable option to move forward” on a professional soccer stadium.

“I think we’re a lot closer to a plan than a hope,” Coleman told reporters Wednesday on a conference call.

The mayor on Tuesday led a tour of the 10-acre, city-owned former “bus barn” site near Interstate 94 for a group including MLS deputy commissioner Mark Abbott and representatives from Minnesota United FC, the second-tier pro soccer team that received an MLS expansion franchise in March.

The tour stopped at the would-be stadium site, where participants — including United FC owner Bill McGuire — also examined an adjoining 25-acre parcel owned by RK Midway, the redevelopment of which is a key factor in any potential deal.

Situated on the Green Line light rail corridor, Interstate 94 and a planned high-speed bus line traveling north, the site was highlighted as the center of a redevelopment plan for commercial, housing and retail, Coleman said.

“Seeing that, the deputy commissioner was able to walk the site and answer one of the questions the team has: Would this be an acceptable site?” Coleman said. “I don’t want to answer for anybody, but it’s very clear to me this would not just be an acceptable site, but a premier site.”

The tour started at CHS Field, the new baseball park in Lowertown, and even stopped at Surly Brewing Co. in Minneapolis, blocks from the University Avenue parcels, to put into context “the whole impact of the (light rail) corridor.”

United FC beat the Minnesota Vikings and groups in Sacramento, Calif., and Las Vegas for the expansion franchise, in large part because it had a plan to privately finance a $120 million outdoor stadium seating roughly 18,000 on a $30 million parcel near Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.

MLS gave the team a deadline of July 1 to secure that deal, which died when the team requested a property-tax exemption and tax waivers on construction equipment. When the deadline passed, St. Paul stepped in.

Coleman said United has yet to officially ask for similar help, but if it does, the mayor said, he’s on board, adding that that any deal would have to include redevelopment of the adjoining 25-acre parcel.

“I wish I had the authority to solely act and make that decision,” he said, “but obviously the city council and (state) legislature and the governor will ultimately make the decision on property taxes or waivers. My job is to make clear I’m willing to support that, if asked by the team.”

Coleman was reluctant Wednesday to say that St. Paul now has an exclusive negotiations window.

“We are aggressively pursuing this opportunity, and I think the pieces are falling in the right direction,” Coleman said. “At some point yesterday, (Abbott) said MLS hadn’t had conversations with Minneapolis since the deadline passed at the beginning of July.

“But as I’ve said, this is not Minneapolis against St. Paul; this is about the region and about getting a Major League Soccer team in Minnesota. We want to get that done. When there wasn’t a path forward in Minneapolis, we stepped forward.”

Coleman said the next step is to meet privately with Minnesota United, which he anticipates happening next week. He said he is unaware of another “hard and fast” deadline but added, “I think we all understand” that MLS and the team want to move forward.

Initial estimates had a Minnesota MLS team starting play as early as 2017.

Traffic, parking, financing and traffic accidents at Snelling Avenue near the I-94 exit were raised as issues Tuesday evening during a community speak-out led by the Union Park District Council.

“Are there concerns? You bet,” said longtime neighborhood resident Jerry Striegel. “I don’t know that this is the right site.”

But Andre Smith, who lives near the Cathedral of St. Paul, said it is ideal.

“Up in that Midway area, sir, there are soccer fans galore,” he said. “We have every nationality in the world right here in that Midway St. Paul vicinity. The Hmong, the Latinos, Ethiopians, all the African nations, that’s their love.

“I would beg them please to increase the seating to 20,000 if they could,” Smith added. “Just the Hmong people alone will fill 18,000 seats there.”

Fred Melo contributed to this report. Follow John Shipley at twitter.com/shipleykid.