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Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

I never stated where I would have preferred it built. I was not defending it being put in the woods so much as I was conceding that regardless of my opinion it is being built there, so at least it is grass which is not so bad.

Anyways Ruairi if the stadium were built in Boston would you go back to supporting them? I wonder if there is any way to quantify how many more are in this position and how much bigger of a draw it be in the city. Obviously bigger but I wonder how they find out exactly how many seats to build.

I really think the spot next to 93 would be great being next to Broadway. Hopefully that is the spot they are in talks about.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

stick n move said:
I never stated where I would have preferred it built. I was not defending it being put in the woods so much as I was conceding that regardless of my opinion it is being built there, so at least it is grass which is not so bad.

Anyways Ruairi if the stadium were built in Boston would you go back to supporting them? I wonder if there is any way to quantify how many more are in this position and how much bigger of a draw it be in the city. Obviously bigger but I wonder how they find out exactly how many seats to build.

I really think the spot next to 93 would be great being next to Broadway. Hopefully that is the spot they are in talks about.
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Definitely, I'd probably buy a season ticket.
No idea how the numbers would work out. You might lose suburban families and replace them with students etc. But you'd definitely generate more buzz in town. My nephews live in Wayland and occasionally go down to the Revs but there's no excitement about it. They love soccer but there's just no buzz. If the games were in the city with a good atmosphere and a sense of occasion, they'd be pestering their dad to go.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

stick n move said:
I never stated where I would have preferred it built. I was not defending it being put in the woods so much as I was conceding that regardless of my opinion it is being built there, so at least it is grass which is not so bad.

Anyways Ruairi if the stadium were built in Boston would you go back to supporting them? I wonder if there is any way to quantify how many more are in this position and how much bigger of a draw it be in the city. Obviously bigger but I wonder how they find out exactly how many seats to build.

I really think the spot next to 93 would be great being next to Broadway. Hopefully that is the spot they are in talks about.
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I think it's reasonable to think the Revs could increase their average attendance from roughly 18,500 up to 22-23,000.

They should shoot for a stadium with a capacity of 24-25,000. A bonus would be space to add an additional 3-4,000 seats down the line. Despite playing in Foxborough, the Revs have a pretty good base of loyal fans that will follow the team even if they don't like the stadium in which they play in.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

Something that I reeeeeally like is how the new soccer stadiums have the intimacy of old nba/nhl stadiums like how the garden had very steep rows bringing it in much closer to the court/ice. This just isnt done anymore with modern nba, nhl stadiums or nfl stadiums. Centurylink in seattle they did a good job of this so I give them credit. Portland converted an old baseball stadium and I absolutely love the expansion they are adding. Each row is very steep and very short keeping it right up against the field. Soo badass! I really hope we take this intomacy into consideration and the previous renders did show this was in the plans. Nothing as extreme as Portland but the rows were still very steep.

Providence park expansion
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Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

I know that this has been covered endlessly, but in NYC, I have no soccer allegiance. I lived here for many years before going to a Red Bulls game. It took until they got a new stadium. Although it is train accessible, it is still kind of out of the way to get there, especially from Westchester or Long Island.

NYCFC, on the other hand is easy - Yankee Stadium has a subway stop on a line the connects to all the MetroNorth commuter line trains at 125th Street. It also has a MetroNorth Hudson Line local stop (train looks like a subway train - goes ~20 miles outside the city, vs the locomotive trains going farther out).
With all that transportation, the place has great attendance figures for a fairly new franchise. As a result, I have been to several NYCFC games - in spite of their owners being Man City.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

Great to see Bob Kraft in the news - here comes that new stadium proposal, for sure!
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

JohnAKeith said:
Great to see Bob Kraft in the news - here comes that new stadium proposal, for sure!
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So prescient.

https://www2.bostonglobe.com/busine...cer-stadium/nuLpIeWxaPc3pOXBiCskHN/story.html

Maybe a fairer comparison can be found in high-cost Washington. D.C. United started playing in Audi Field last year in an open-air arena that cost an estimated $400 million, making it the most expensive Major League Soccer stadium so far.

Well, at least the Krafts have a new record to beat.

Victor Matheson, an economist at Holy Cross in Worcester, says $400 million seems steep. A major motivator for MLS teams to build new is to control their own venue, he says, and the corresponding revenue generated within. That newfound financial independence helps to justify the investment. But that’s obviously not a factor with the Krafts, because the Revs already play in a building they own.

Smith College economist Andrew Zimbalist says he doubts the Krafts can recoup the cost of a $400 million stadium with just 18 Revs home games a year. But throw in concerts, other sporting events, and additional development? Maybe then the math starts to work.

The biggest variable the Krafts face, of course, is real estate. Mayor Marty Walsh last year moved to put the city’s 18-acre public works yard, a.k.a. the “tow lot,” on Frontage Road out to bid, but that process remains on hold. Assembly Row in Somerville is pretty much filled up with shops, offices, and apartments now. And developers are advancing plans for many of the previous other candidates — the Bayside, Suffolk Downs, Tremont Crossing, among them.
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Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

The Seaport has tons of room still.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

stick n move said:
The Seaport has tons of room still.
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Unfortunately not when 6.5 acres of land goes for $200M. Shame, Seaport would be a great location, especially for the other uses like concerts, etc.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

I think Allston will be the last chance. Theyre going to have west station and maybe grand junction too eventually. Theres a plot near the hotel and storrow that could be built now and will be within the grid later as its built. Maybe the Krafts and Harvard could share so both benefit. I dont see anywhere else besides there. Plus it means you dont have to go through the city to get to it, youd exit the pike in Allston. I think thats the best bet.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

stick n move said:
I think Allston will be the last chance. Theyre going to have west station and maybe grand junction too eventually. Theres a plot near the hotel and storrow that could be built now and will be within the grid later as its built. Maybe the Krafts and Harvard could share so both benefit. I dont see anywhere else besides there. Plus it means you dont have to go through the city to get to it, youd exit the pike in Allston. I think thats the best bet.
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Agreed. Perhaps there's some land left near - or at - "The Track" at Boston Landing. It would be a win-win and stand to reason with the Celtics and Bruins practice facilities already there.

And if that fails, just build right next to where the new Revs practice facility is. You own that land already. It's not gonna kill you to wave the white flag and admit that we're not quite in a post-NIMBY Boston era.

Personally, with the issues that the Revs are having on the field and with Kraft's legal issues mounting, I'm starting to think that save for the Patriots, he's not that sharp of a businessman.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

This is where I feel is the last spot left. Harbor point is out of the question, Assembly no room, Widett too complex and no movement, Seaport land too expensive. This is one of the last spots. They could build now between where the roads will go and fill in later. Id try to get it done now or as soon as possible before it starts filling in and gets too dense/expensive. Maybe Harvard could consider further up near the other stadium, but this is close to many roads plus transit.

Its near the pike, storrow, memorial drive, soldiers field rd, west station, red line station at central, rt 20, and maybe grand junction one day. Plus people driving in on the pike wouldnt have to even enter or go through the city, thats huge. Its still close but on the outer edge so you dont add to inter city traffic. 95 also allows drivers from the North and South to go around the city and come in on the pike. I think this is the best..last spot left. Its going to be a huge construction site soon, Id get in on it soon or they may be out of luck forever once this is gone.

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Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

And why would Harvard, which is trying to replicate Kendall with the property it acquired at Beacon Yards and surrounds, want to give up all that land for a soccer stadium, particularly for a team owned by someone long affiliated with Columbia athletics?

Let's assume Harvard builds and owns six million square feet of office and lab space at Beacon yards and surrounds, which it leases for $75 a square foot. You can do the arithmetic on how much gross income that represents, EVERY YEAR. For years and years and years.

Conceded that both Robert and Jonathan have MBA's from HBS, but Harvard is not about to be fleeced by two rich and prominent alums.

If you want a big site near West Station, pay Boston University $200 million for New Balance field, a softball field, a big parking lot, a tennis center, i.e., everything BU owns between Malvern and Babcock, and Gardner and the railroad tracks. And for good measure, spend some additional tens of millions and buy out the block between Comm Ave and Gardner, and Malvern and Alcorn. That gets you a Green Line stop right at your entrance.

This building:
https://goo.gl/maps/5Mw8Ep8cteJ4q8tC7

and this set of buildings:
https://goo.gl/maps/tPFgCHTJnXn28qoE8

And look at the potential, build a Revs stadium here:
https://goo.gl/maps/7EZ79EYg3VSzS4Hd6

Nothing but Industrial institutional wasteland.
https://goo.gl/maps/xgdLkjBdrKLkBxHN8
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

Id like either one and its looking like this area is all thats left. Its the same argument here though, this is valuable land that BU can redevelop. I dont really see the difference, either way they both give up something. The difference is the old pike yard is a vision that may or may not be realized as grand as they hope, this area for BU is established right outside of these old buildings and redeveloping would tie them right into an existing neighborhood. Allston yards is nothing but a vision right now that can and will change with time.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

If you're going to do that why not just pay BU and refurbish Nickerson field, which is primarily used to soccer anyway not that lacrosse has moved next door? Even if you pay BU for the value of the land, where is the school going to now house the tennis and lacrosse programs since two new facilities will now be gone? You'd also have to pay the city to take over the city streets involved. It would be a bit of a tight squeeze with Nickerson field given the west campus dorms but the Case center could certainly go now that the John Hancock village is up and running.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

I don't know how much space is there, but why not put the stadium on top of the Pike? The parcel from West Station to Cambridge Street perhaps?
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

mass88 said:
I don't know how much space is there, but why not put the stadium on top of the Pike? The parcel from West Station to Cambridge Street perhaps?
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Interesting thought, although the complexities with that would be legion.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

Here's another thought: why not put a stadium at Wellington Station? A deck over the railyard immediately between the skywalk pedestrian bridge and Route 16 is probably large enough to accommodate a Major League Soccer stadium.
- Excellent transit connectivity to Orange Line and multiple major bus routes.
- Wynn/Encore transportation funds will mean some sort of improvement at Wellington Circle (Rt. 16 + Rt. 28 intersection).
- Stadium proximity to very densely-populated neighborhoods with presumably high number of soccer fans (large foreign-born population nearby).
- Mystic & Malden River bike path recent and ongoing improvements provide additional options for people to bike to the site.

I moved near Wellington Station in recent months and think a lot about the higher and better use potential of the site. The site is no further from Boston's Downtown than the Allston Pike or Bayside Expo sites, but that Orange Line connection is a pretty critical difference. Heck, it's only a 25-minute walk away from Encore Boston Harbor.
 
Re: Site in Hub top choice for a soccer stadium

Wonderland seems like a no-brainer to me.
 
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