TSU & Dynamo facility almost a reality!
May 7, 2008, 11:26PM
TSU looking to be a financial player in Dynamo facility
Talks under way by school and team for a stadium deal
By BERNARDO FALLAS and BILL MURPHY
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Forget soccer-specific. The Dynamo would be thrilled to call their proposed stadium football-specific or even f?tbol-specific.
Either way would be accurate ? soccer is known as football almost everywhere else in the world ? if the Dynamo can get Texas Southern University to join negotiations with the city of Houston toward the construction of a $105 million facility just east of downtown that would be home to the two-time defending MLS champions and TSU athletics, primarily the Tigers' football team.
By the looks of things, TSU is prepared to do just that.
Two weeks after he first expressed interest in the project and a couple of meetings and phone conversations later, newly appointed TSU athletic director Charles McClelland said the school is willing to invest in the construction of the 22,000-capacity stadium in exchange for the rights to use it.
"My understanding of the proposal is that the Houston Dynamo and Texas Southern University would share the use of the stadium, including some signage, so it would be the home of Texas Southern University athletics and football program," McClelland said Wednesday, two days after meeting with a city official involved in the stadium negotiations. "We're interested and understand that there has to be a financial commitment from the university, but we are very pleased with the direction of the talks and hope to be able to come to a resolution in the near future."
While McClelland declined to disclose the size or range of the financial commitment because of the ongoing nature of the talks, he is confident the range that has been discussed is "within the capability of the university."
Plenty of negotiations
Andy Icken, the city's deputy director of public works, who is heading negotiations on a stadium deal, said he discussed TSU's interest in entering the soccer stadium deal at a meeting Monday.
TSU's proposal makes sense because the Tigers could use the stadium for their football games and the city could rely on TSU's financial participation as a way to keep additional tax dollars from being spent on the facility, Icken said.
"If we can make it happen, we will," Icken said. "We have nothing other than discussions going on at this point."
McClelland plans to meet with Dynamo president Oliver Luck before week's end.
According to McClelland, the proposal calls for the stadium to be a shared-use facility, giving TSU equal access but also responsibilities regarding operating costs.
Whatever financial contribution TSU makes may not be enough to seal the deal, but it would get the parties closer to a resolution.
The Dynamo ownership, led by majority investor Anschutz Entertainment Group, and the city have been involved in serious stadium negotiations for a year.
While things have looked promising at times ? the city recently spent more than $15 million to purchase land just east of U.S. 59 and downtown that could house the stadium ? progress has been slow.
Team owners say they are willing to carry the bulk of the cost, but they want the city to fork over a larger share than it is offering, something Mayor Bill White has been reluctant to do.
The city is willing to spend money from special taxing districts known as Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, but White has said he will not take money away from basic city services.
AEG initially estimated that the stadium would cost about $80 million. Attempts to reach a deal with the city became rockier earlier this year when AEG increased its estimate to more than $100 million.
A move to suburbs?
Icken said AEG hasn't changed the type of stadium it intends to build. Rising costs for steel and concrete have increased the cost of building the stadium, he said.
"With the work of the (Harris County-Houston) sports authority, the Dynamo has seen in the past that the public has financed sport venues," Icken said. "We are not going to do that in this case."
The Dynamo ownership has said that while it is committed to a downtown location, if a deal cannot be struck soon, it will look for options in the suburbs.
The Dynamo play at the University of Houston's Robertson Stadium, but the team's three-year lease expires after this season. The team is adamant about the need for its own facility if it is to become a viable enterprise.
TSU plays most of its home football games on campus. The Tigers also have played games at Robertson and Reliant stadiums. The proposed stadium would be about two miles from the school's existing home field.
"One of my initiatives as athletic director was to be able to bring a state-of-the-art stadium to Texas Southern University athletics," said McClelland, who officially joined TSU from Prairie View A&M on May 1. "It would give us a huge boost in getting us to have one of the best facilities in the Football Championship Subdivision."
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