Tacoma soccer stadium is good goal to shoot for. But city, county must play hardball
The Soccer Club of Tacoma (TSCOT, for short) is in the make-or-break phase as it tries to develop a 5,500-seat professional soccer stadium, sports village and mixed-use development in Central Tacoma.
This is where things get real, with as much as $40 million in public money on the table — all for the privilege of keeping professional women’s soccer and a Seattle Sounders youth development team in town. We’d like to see that happen, but at what price?
Project spokesman Tim Thompson and other TSCOT officials met with our Editorial Board last week to promote the impacts for the city, all of which, he said, fall on the plus side of the ledger. And then there’s the intangibles: affordable youth recreation, community outreach and an upgrade in the T-Town image department.
The development group, a partnership of the Tacoma Rainiers and Seattle Sounders, would cover any overruns above the $60 million stadium construction cost, Thompson said. The women’s Reign FC team would play there, as would the Tacoma Defiance youth soccer club, feeding off the energy of Rainiers minor-league baseball next door.
We believe having all public and private parties sign a non-binding letter of intent in the next few weeks is a good goal to shoot for. But we also suggest curbing some enthusiasm for now.
Before becoming landlords, selling off assets or handing out tax credits like orange slices at a peewee soccer game, local officials have a duty to vet every detail and maximize the public good.
The initial ask is big: $10 million up front from the city, plus another $5 million over two years, and $7.5 million up front from Metro Parks. Meanwhile, TSCOT says it will contribute $18.5 million to $20.5 million.
That leaves a gap of up to $19 million. Pierce County will be asked to fill part of the hole, the amount undetermined, depending on available state funds and tax credits. At this stage in the game, that’s a distressingly large question mark.
After months of talks with the city and release of a feasibility study, TSCOT is now setting hard deadlines and issuing ultimatums. A stadium must be built by 2022, Thompson said, “or we can just walk away and this project can go somewhere else.”
His group wants the letter of intent signed by early March, because TSCOT is under its own deadlines from the National Women’s Soccer League and United Soccer League. It seems those organizations don’t want their athletes to keep playing on a converted baseball field at Cheney Stadium. That’s understandable.
But we’re no fans of time-pressure sales tactics, not with so much to consider surrounding this proposal.
It’s unknown, for instance, whether TSCOT would purchase or lease city land; we were told specific land-acquisition discussions would happen only after completion of the letter of intent.
Nonetheless, a non-binding agreement would kick this deal closer to goal, so the city should do its best to meet the deadline. That doesn’t mean city officials can’t engage in further negotiations. Clearly more bargaining is necessary.
We share Metro Parks Commissioner Aaron Pointer’s concern about selling Metro Parks property. His stance is a far cry from Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, who practically has shovel in-hand ready to break ground.
From where we sit, TSCOT needs Tacoma more than Tacoma needs it, which means decision makers are in position to make reasonable demands.
That includes nailing down clear language on affordable housing in Phase ll of the mixed-use development, after the stadium is built. At a time when Tacoma rents are soaring and housing for low-income households is in woefully short supply, nothing can be left to chance.
We like that the stadium would be open for at least 100 free playing hours a year for soccer players under age 9.
We also like that the stadium would be the home pitch for present or future World Cup stars — perhaps the next Megan Rapinoe, if she’s not still playing for Reign FC — and that it would be the first pro soccer venue in the US designed for female athletes.
There’s no question a great stadium could mean the difference between a women’s soccer team having a strong fan base or not — a persistent conundrum for female sports.
TSCOT also eased some of our concerns about Reign FC’s new French ownership. Should the Olympique Lyonnais group move the team, TSCOT assured it will provide a replacement of equal caliber. The Sounders also commit to having the Defiance or another youth development team play in Tacoma.
Two major Puget Sound stakeholders, MultiCare and the University of Washington, have also signed on to the project. Certainly a health clinic and sports management school lend more confidence that this could be a win for Tacoma.
If Tacoma passes on this opportunity, it could be a long time before another sports franchise pays the city any mind.
But we have to take our own advice. Now is not the time to get starry-eyed over a stadium, not with so much public money at stake and a long list of urgent city needs.
Now is the time to play hardball.