Courtship, by Precourt

Late last Tuesday, after much anticipation, Precourt Sports Ventures sent a letter to City Council outlining the $326 million the Columbus Crew owners could potentially provide in community benefits should the organization be "granted the privilege" of using the city-owned McKalla Place property just north of Rutland Drive. The four-page missive, attributed to PSV CEO Anthony Precourt and President Dave Greeley, described a "commitment to the community," which is essentially a rough sketch of how a professional soccer team could benefit key stakeholders in the city over a 25-year period. Among the items listed are opportunities for charitable giving from the organization, revenues to small businesses which could operate at the proposed $200 million stadium on game days, a once-a-year coupon given to the Austin Independent School District to host an event at the stadium free of charge, as well as a number of youth-oriented soccer programs.

In a portion of the letter labeled "operations phase," Precourt and Greeley identify three nonprofits­ – the Boys & Girls Club of Austin, Foundation Communities, and the AISD Foundation – which could stand to benefit, they say, to the tune of "$2.5 million [in] direct cash contributions and 2,500 total annual hours of volunteerism" from PSV and its partner organizations. Addi­tion­ally, Precourt and Greeley mention the Workers Defense Project as a potential partner in the development.

What do these four nonprofits have in common? Besides being well-regarded around town, they also have not reported to have had any contact with anyone who represents Precourt Sports Ventures. The groups were included in Precourt's list as potential partners, but representatives inside some of the organizations expressed surprise to find out they were listed in the letter without any prior discussion of what their potential partnership might look like.

WDP said they've never heard from PSV, as did a representative from the Boys & Girls Club. The AISD Foundation doesn't actually exist. The Austin Ed Fund does; it used to be known as the Austin Public Education Foundation. But a spokesperson there said they also have not been contacted. Founda­tion Communities' Executive Director Walter Moreau said his nonprofit has had "zero relationship with PSV" and that he had not had any conversation about developing affordable housing in conjunction with stadium development. He said he would be willing to work with PSV should the city reach an agreement with the organization that resulted in the MLS team locating here, but made clear that he would not take sides in the negotiations. "We won't become cheerleaders or opponents of the project," he said. "But we would be grateful for any charitable contributions."

Asked about the lack of communications, PSV cited its "commitment to the community" and said it "values the organizations referenced in the letter because of their vital work in Austin. We needed to share the letter with Council first, but we look forward to starting conversations with these groups and others at the appropriate time."

Meanwhile, over at Council, Leslie Pool said she appreciates PSV's "interest in our city" and noted how both the city and PSV consider the current discourse "just the beginning of a conversation." She expects staff will spend the next few months engaging the community and surrounding area on a potential stadium at the site, but that the benefits from the team's location here "must be measurable and relevant to our community." She reminded PSV of who will be courting whom in the soon-to-begin dance. "And of course, as the City Council is entering into a conversation with PSV, we naturally reserve the right at the end of negotiations to say no."

Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo has since put forth a resolution directing City Manager Spencer Cronk to "conduct a deeper analysis" of the McKalla site as a potential hub. The resolution is expected to be heard at today's Council meeting (March 22), but because Pool will not be present, actual deliberation will likely be delayed until April.

Pool posted several proposed amendments to the resolution to Council's message board online in the event that it does move forward, and also expressed concern over the timeline put forth by PSV, which wants a decision on McKalla before Council leaves for summer break. "Having our staff return as quickly as June with this full feasibility analysis along with a truly inclusive and complete community engagement process may lead to not having the full picture on either score," she said.