The owners of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew have released artist renderings of a potential stadium in Austin.
Precourt Sports Ventures, which owns the team, hired local firm Armbrust & Brown to help with site selection. It landed on Lady Bird Lake, between South Lamar and Barton Creek. The team might face several hurdles to locate there; the first being that it is city parkland, part of Butler Shores, just off the Hike and Bike Trail.
The team is proposing to pay for the stadium initially. The city would then own it, while the team maintains it.
Richard Suttle, a real estate attorney with Armbrust & Brown, said he believes a stadium could be built with that arrangement, without voter approval.
“That being said, we’re waiting on the will of the Council and the will of the people,” he said. “And if they decide that an election is something they want to talk about, we’re willing to entertain that because we know that there’s wide support for this endeavor.”
Early stadium plans suggest it would be no higher than the neighboring Zach Scott Theater and about one story shorter than the condos across the street.
City staffers will present their site recommendations to Austin City Council next Thursday.
