Harris County officials approve Dynamo soccer stadium deal

Deal for Houston Dynamo soccer stadium in place

HOUSTON — The Houston Dynamo have a deal in place for a new stadium to be built and ready for use in April 2012.

Harris County commissioners unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday for a 20,000-seat stadium in partnership with the Major League Soccer team and the city of Houston. The proposal for the $95 million project had been approved last week by Houston City Council.

There are several matters that still need to be finished, including formal approval by city and county officials to create an economic zone around the stadium to redevelop the area and use new tax revenue from redevelopment to pay the city’s and county’s portions of the project.

But there are no major stumbling blocks standing in the way, Dynamo president Oliver Luck said.

“This is a very good deal for taxpayers. We are carrying the bulk of the risk,” he said.

Luck said he expects designers and architects to begin working on the project by May, with construction beginning by November or December and the stadium opening in two years.

The Dynamo currently play at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium and last season had an average home attendance of just over 17,000.

The stadium would be jointly owned by the city and county, with the Dynamo responsible for stadium operations.

The Dynamo will pay $60 million in construction costs, and the city and county will pay $20 million in infrastructure improvements around the facility. The city purchased the land for $15 million in March 2008. The county will pay the city $7.5 million for that land purchase.

During their meeting, county commissioners said taxpayers won’t foot the bill for the new stadium and the county won’t be saddled with debt because of the project.

“This is a privately funded stadium,” said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. “This is so totally different from other (stadium) deals.”

The stadium will be built on a vacant lot east of downtown Houston, near Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, and the Toyota Center, where the Houston Rockets play. The area around the stadium site is surrounded mostly by parking lots, older industrial buildings and some homes.

Not all are welcoming the new stadium. Michael Lambert told the commissioners he is one of nearly 80 homeowners around the site who believe the stadium would disrupt their way of life and will not bring true economic redevelopment of the area.

As part of the agreement, Texas Southern University will use the stadium for its home football games.