Collinsville soccer project blooming (Pro Soccer)

wheelscomp · PostAug 11, 2007#512007-08-11T06:42+00:00

This excites me very much. I just spent an hour reading everything on the site and it is very impressive. Of course being from STL, I know how big soccer is, but if I werent from here, I would be very convinced that STL could support a pro soccer team by reading it. I also really like the stadium. I like the roof. Very modern. Very cool.

I really think MLS is doing a very good job expanding their image and fan base. Ex: My girlfriend bought me a David Beckham jersey for my birthday. Those things are like 100 bucks and I read that they sold over 100 thousand of them the first week they came out.

We could have a really cool team here, and hopefully get some local players like Taylor Twellman and have a legit, winning team...

little egyptian · PostAug 11, 2007#522007-08-11T15:41+00:00

So, according to the post today, it looks like Cooper presents the proposal on Monday night and then in September the council will make a final vote. So, looks like we have to wait another month.

However, it is only a 5 person council. The mayor is one vote. The article cites another council member as in approval. So there are 2 votes and Cooper has not even presented yet. It is looking very good.

Here is a the story in the post:

Collinsville council members open to stadium project

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/11/2007

soccer stadium

Rendering of a proposed project in Collinsville that would include a soccer stadium, a hotel, restaurants and retail.

The plan to build a $100 million stadium complex in Collinsville — with hopes of luring a Major League Soccer franchise to the region — has found an open mind from many on the City Council.

"It appears to be a good opportunity," said Nancy Moss, a Collinsville City Council member.

On Monday night, the council will publicly hear East Alton attorney Jeff Cooper's vision for a massive soccer development. He is proposing a 400-acre project that would include an 18,900-seat stadium, a hotel, at least two restaurants, about 1,000 single-family homes, several youth soccer fields and nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space.

The project would require a jump-start: Collinsville would have to sell about $20 million in bonds upfront. That money, however, could be paid back by a portion of sales taxes on everything bought at the complex.

"I don't want to mortgage our future for this," Moss said. "But if all the pieces come together, and we don't have to spend money from our general fund, it could be a good deal."

The project has been pushed by Mayor Stan Schaeffer, and has a recommendation from the city manager. A five-person panel — four City Council members and the mayor — will vote in September on the project, which would be at Interstate 255 and Horseshoe Lake Road.

Continue Reading:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

shimmy · PostAug 11, 2007#532007-08-11T15:50+00:00

Good. Nancy Moss is actually a good friend of the family, so I'm glad to see she's on board.

little egyptian · PostAug 11, 2007#542007-08-11T15:52+00:00

Shimmy wrote:Good. Nancy Moss is actually a good friend of the family, so I'm glad to see she's on board.

Know anyone else on the board you could give a friendly phone call to?

shimmy · PostAug 11, 2007#552007-08-11T15:57+00:00

Well, despite coming from a strong republican family, the mayor is a family friend. But, he's the one pushing this, so I got nothing. Sorry. But, my grandma is on the city township, so I'll talk to her and see all who she knows.

beer city · PostAug 11, 2007#562007-08-11T17:33+00:00

This also exceeds my expectations. I like the modern look of the renderings, this could also give the metro a “modern” new urbanist style development as well as an excellent venue for footy. Count me as a season ticket holder.

framer · PostAug 12, 2007#572007-08-12T03:40+00:00

Overall, a very impressive project. And they've got a great location, right at the intersection of two interstates. That should help people's concerns about access. When you think about it, this site is closer to Downtown than most of West County is.

And I like the way they are including views of the St. Louis skyline in their planning.

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 13, 2007#582007-08-13T14:30+00:00

^ FYI - I drove from the CWE past this site on my way to Indiana this past Friday. Leaving STL at 5pm it took 17min to get there with reasonable traffic on the PSB.

AND - the site is directly north of Cahokia Mounds. It would be wonderful to include some aspect of this in the team name. Cahokia Mounds is the most significant cultural artifact north of Mexico - maybe this development will help bring people to the mounds as well.

little egyptian · PostAug 13, 2007#592007-08-13T14:44+00:00

More on the owner Cooper in today's post.

Jeff Cooper turned salesman to bring soccer team to area

By Shane Graber

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/13/2007

soccer stadium

Rendering of a proposed project in Collinsville that would include a soccer stadium, a hotel, restaurants and retail.

EAST ALTON — The big-name lawyer played door-to-door salesman, peddling his product all over the region, just hoping for a bite.

Jeff Cooper likely wasn't used to this routine. His law firm, SimmonsCooper, had reached stratospheric heights in asbestos verdicts and settlements, at least $1 billion since 1999. His practice is known throughout the country, and clients seek him out.

Yet, here Cooper was, going town to town. He wanted a big time, Major League Soccer team and stadium. And he wanted it fast. His newest project, though, was taking a while to get going.

"I heard nothing but the word 'no' for the first six months," said Cooper, as he drove his Land Rover down Interstate 255 last week in the Metro East.

Cooper, who played high school and college soccer, tried to sell St. Louis and Mayor Francis Slay, another soccer enthusiast, on pro soccer. But the mayor couldn't make it happen, Cooper said.

Other cities, including some in West County, also declined Cooper's proposal.

Finally, one community had an interest. It wasn't downtown St. Louis, but it was just a few miles away.

Collinsville had been looking for a project like this for a while. It's a big financial risk for the city of 25,000, officials say, but so far they think Cooper's $100 million stadium and complex is worth it.

Read More: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

Lots of interesting stuff in that article.

Saint Louis City was asked and apparently Slay was not that interested because the amount of money at issue is not that large. So were West County communities. Why they would not be interested I do not know.

Also, I was unaware Cooper ran for Congress. I would expect him to run again a few years from now.

shimmy · PostAug 13, 2007#602007-08-13T15:51+00:00

^Oh, its that Cooper? Yeah, Uncle John defeated him pretty well(thought I'd get that out there before the Republican Bashing starts, I know we aren't too popular around here

). I think it was like 64%-36%...something like that. I wouldn't be surprised if he ran again in a few years, I liked him. Though I think that Jay Hoffmann might run again too and I would consider him the favorite if he does.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn it into a political thread.

Anyways, I wonder how the other communities could turn this down?

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 13, 2007#612007-08-13T17:47+00:00

Cooper, who played high school and college soccer, tried to sell St. Louis and Mayor Francis Slay, another soccer enthusiast, on pro soccer. But the mayor couldn't make it happen, Cooper said.

That's too bad - I think a number of cities/towns may be missing out on this. MLS seems to be here to stay and St. Louis is a fantastic city (metro area) in which to have a franchise.

PostAug 13, 2007#622007-08-13T17:48+00:00

Xing wrote:If this pulls through, and American soccer grows- considering this expansion, and David Beckham coming to U.S. soccer- then that gives Metrolink more insentive to build a metrolink by way of Collinsville.

btw, here is a map of the location.

I would like to see the same map centered on the population center instead of the river . . .

threeonefour · PostAug 13, 2007#632007-08-13T17:52+00:00

Cooper, who played high school and college soccer, tried to sell St. Louis and Mayor Francis Slay, another soccer enthusiast, on pro soccer. But the mayor couldn't make it happen, Cooper said.

Odd, because this is the first I've heard of a formal pitch to the City of St. Louis. I wonder why Mayor Slay didn't express more of an interest?

Oh well, I guess the city's loss is Collinsville's gain.

moorlander · PostAug 13, 2007#642007-08-13T17:55+00:00

Grover wrote:
Cooper, who played high school and college soccer, tried to sell St. Louis and Mayor Francis Slay, another soccer enthusiast, on pro soccer. But the mayor couldn't make it happen, Cooper said.

That's too bad - I think a number of cities/towns may be missing out on this. MLS seems to be here to stay and St. Louis is a fantastic city (metro area) in which to have a franchise.

That's odd cause

Saturday, August 11, 2007

MLS Soccer

I like the idea of bringing a major league soccer team to the metro area. St. Louis has always been a soccer kind of place — and we should have a pro team.

An Alton attorney hopes to lure an MLS team here by building a publicly subsidized stadium and "soccer-park village" on 400 acres near Collinsville, IL. He hopes to have the team here for the 2009 season, the same year that the City and the St. Louis Cardinals will be hosting the baseball All-Star Game. I haven’t seen the details of his proposal, but I wish him and Collinsville every success. I think that downtown St. Louis, with its central location, is the best place in the region for major league sports teams. But, if he gets the team, I certainly hope the region supports it.

http://www.mayorslay.com/desk/

threeonefour · PostAug 13, 2007#652007-08-13T18:00+00:00

Maybe the public subsidy is troublesome? Remember, after the Cardinals secured public funding amid widespread opposition, city voters passed an amendment that would require voter approval of similar requests for public funding of stadiums. I guess we're going to pay for that decision one way or another.

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 13, 2007#662007-08-13T18:14+00:00

^ And if Cooper wanted 400 acres, well, the city doesn't have it.

threeonefour · PostAug 13, 2007#672007-08-13T18:15+00:00

^ Well, if the city and Paul McKee put their puzzle pieces of real estate together...

little egyptian · PostAug 13, 2007#682007-08-13T18:18+00:00

ThreeOneFour wrote:Maybe the public subsidy is troublesome? Remember, after the Cardinals secured public funding amid widespread opposition, city voters passed an amendment that would require voter approval of similar requests for public funding of stadiums. I guess we're going to pay for that decision one way or another.

I agree. This is probably just the first case, but Saint Louis is going to pay for that whole Ball Park Village fiasco. I am sure after that whole thing, even if Slay could work the politics and money out, he would be gunshy of doing another publicly financed stadium in the City. That was such a mess (and still is - hello, there is still a pond there) that it is going to affect Saint Louis for many years to come. This is just the first case ... more to come.

matt · PostAug 14, 2007#692007-08-14T13:51+00:00

The developer's plan is to create a complex hub of activities around a sports theme on the ourskirts of a midwestern MSA from scratch using farmland where population densities are low and mass transit nonexistent.

I wish him well but also think the entire plan could benefit from some market research and consumer science studies.

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 14, 2007#702007-08-14T14:58+00:00

^ Fair enough, but you have to admire that this project seems to be going from 0-60 in no time. Looks like there's a good chance this will be completed before phase I of BPV AND before the Bottle District turns a shovel!

little egyptian · PostAug 14, 2007#712007-08-14T15:36+00:00

Matt, I am not sure "mass transit is non-existent." We all know it is not on a Metro line (yet), but there will be plenty of bus transportation. However, who really care that much about the buses or even, dare I say, the Metro. It would be nice, but "Mass Transit" in Saint Louis occurs in the form of the car. This sits at the intersection of 2 interstates. Entire cities and towns are built around a single interstate (O'Fallon MO or IL), so being at the intersection of 2 interstates (actually - 3 interstates: 70 & 55 and 255 and 3.5 highways: U.S. 40, 111, 157 & 159 is also close) is about as massive as mass transportation gets in Saint Louis.

On a different note, looks like the meeting went pretty well last night. Only one council member asked questions, but even that council member didn't seem to ask questions that would kill the project. Barring a huge public outcry in the next month, it vote looks good.

Here is the Post article today:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

Alex Ihnen · PostAug 18, 2007#722007-08-18T15:45+00:00

Some interesting information from the P-D. It's not particularly positive, but I think it's probably accurate.

COLLINSVILLE — If the City Council commits millions of dollars to a professional soccer stadium complex next month, the decision-makers and the public likely won't know the details until just hours before the vote.

Council members aren't likely to get to personally review the project, and the public won't know the city's financial obligation — estimated to be $20 million in bonds — until the city makes the council agenda public 48 hours before the meeting, City Manager Bob Knabel said.

In fact, city officials don't even know yet whether they'll have to make a financial commitment at that Sept. 10 meeting. Major League Soccer hasn't decided whether it will require such a commitment by then, Knabel said.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Cooper boasted during that Monday meeting that the stadium complex would have a $221 million impact on the region, based on the study's findings. But some economists say the figures are exaggerated.

"They're nonsense," said Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College economist who focuses on sports. "They're jiggered. And all the literature out there about these agrees. They make false assumptions. These consultants are obviously being paid to reach a conclusion."

Consultants commonly overstate the benefits sports facilities have on communities, Roger G. Noll, an economics professor at Stanford University, wrote in a newspaper article.

"Before-and-after studies of new stadiums show no statistically significant effect on local employment, income and retail sales, and more often than not the effect can be slightly negative," he wrote.

Link: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

shimmy · PostAug 18, 2007#732007-08-18T15:50+00:00

Every person I've met is really excited about this project. And every person I talk to is still obviously pissed that we lost the Grizzlies, which leads to more motivation.

xing · PostAug 19, 2007#742007-08-19T03:25+00:00

Grover wrote:
Xing wrote:If this pulls through, and American soccer grows- considering this expansion, and David Beckham coming to U.S. soccer- then that gives Metrolink more insentive to build a metrolink by way of Collinsville.

btw, here is a map of the location.

I would like to see the same map centered on the population center instead of the river . . .

Lol. Use your imagination then.

PostAug 20, 2007#752007-08-20T21:06+00:00

The first is a story with a video link, off to the bottom right. The second is just the video, an interview with Jeff Cooper. Both make the deal look very promising.

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Hom ... 1.1&sflg=1

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Hom ... 1.1&sflg=1

Collinsville soccer project blooming (Pro Soccer)

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