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Louisville Stadium to Anchor $200 Million Development

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 09/23/17, 7:14AM EDT

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Mayor announces economic development plan for 35-acre project


Photo courtesy Louisville City FC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced on Friday that a new soccer-specific stadium for USL club Louisville City FC would be the centerpiece for a $200 million development of a 35-acre area of underused land in the city’s Butchertown neighborhood, marking the next step toward the creation for a permanent home for the current USL Eastern Conference leader.

Louisville City FC will commit $50 million to the project for the stadium’s construction, with the purchase of the land for the venue being covered by the city. In addition to the soccer-specific stadium, the development will also include hotel, restaurant and retail amenities nearby. The end result will produce a “stadium district” where the soccer stadium, Louisville Slugger Field and the Yum! Center – home of the University of Louisville’s Men’s Basketball program – are all situated within blocks of each other, along the same line of sight. 

“This is an exciting, worthwhile project that takes an underused, very visible swath of land and creates a vibrant new stadium district that builds on the momentum downtown, in Nulu and Butchertown,” said Mayor Fischer. “This is a smart opportunity, and when smart opportunities to move our city forward come up, we’re going to grab them.”


Photo courtesy Louisville City FC

The $30 million portion of the development paid for by the city will be covered by general obligation bond, of which $25 million will be used to purchase the land and $5 million as a contribution to brownfield remediation and public infrastructure. 

No Metro tax dollars will be used for stadium construction, and Louisville City FC is projected to pay $14.5 million back to the city over 20 years from sales of land, rent from leases of land and stadium rent. Should the stadium hit certain financial markers, the city would also be able to share in the upside of that growth, up to $2 million.

Since its establishment before the 2015 USL season, Louisville City FC has become one of the USL’s model clubs. With five games to go in the 2017 USL regular season, the side has already clinched a berth in the USL Cup Playoffs for a third successive season, and it is vying for its first silverware as it continues its pursuit of the 2017 USL Regular Season Championship on Sunday, when it visits Ottawa Fury FC at TD Place.

The club’s Chairman and President John Neace said he was grateful to Mayor Fischer and Louisville Forward for “their commitment to the growth of professional soccer in Louisville.”

“Today marks another important step in our vision to be the best United Soccer League club in the country,” Neace said. “We look forward to building a world-class soccer stadium and surrounding development that continues revitalization in the Butchertown neighborhood.”

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