(Populous/DC United)

This post has been updated.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s best efforts to lure D.C. United to Virginia proved for naught. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the team and the District government have reached a final agreement to build a stadium at Buzzard Point.

Flanked by more than half the D.C. Council and city employees decked out in team scarves, Bowser grinned and said: “I say proudly that D.C. United will have its permanent home in Washington, D.C.”

While she listed sale agreements with several property owners at the site in Southwest, a deal with real estate company Akridge was noticeably absent. The original proposal involved a swap of the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center on 14th and U Street NW for a large portion of the land where the stadium would be built. After a public outcry, that part of the deal was nixed, and the city hasn’t yet reached another agreement with the developer.

Bowser said the city must have evident control of the site by September 30. “If we are unable to reach an agreement we will avail ourselves of the other opportunity,” she said, without referencing eminent domain by name. “Our approach is to get an agreement among all of the property owners so we are still pursuing that.” It is unclear how long the city has to reach an agreement with Akridge before they must begin the legal process to use eminent domain.

A package will be delivered to the D.C. Council today including the finalized land agreements, Bowser said. Under the revised deal, D.C. will provide the infrastructure and a clean site to D.C. United by September of 2016. They’ll then build the stadium, which is expected to take 15 months.

The city and team reached an agreement to share any cost overruns, whereas previously it would have all been on D.C., according to Bowser. The team must also conduct a feasibility analysis before the District purchases the property and submit stadium designs before the city turns the land over.

“It’s another step forward to this reality that we’re all hoping will come sooner than later,” D.C. United coach Ben Olsen told DCist’s Pablo Maurer after the team’s training session across town. “We’re all getting a little impatient—I wanna see this thing!”

But he’s staying out of the deal-making. “My focus continues to be to try and get this team some results in a busy schedule,” he said. “I think maybe a few years ago I was more concerned with it. Now, I’m swimming as is. I got three kids and a soccer team to deal with. I’d just screw up all the negotiations anyways.”

Back at the press conference, a litany of thanks to all the people who have been at work behind the scenes suggested that there are plenty of people involved.

“It’s a real good deal for the District of Columbia, and it’s a real good deal for D.C. United,” said Jack Evans, before adding that one day D.C. would join Denver and Chicago as hosts to five major sports teams within their city limits.

But what happens to RFK once D.C. United vacates the aging stadium remains unclear. “We’re developing scenarios of how RFK could be developed with a stadium or without,” Bowser said. “I’ve always been open to the [Washington Football Team] returning to the city.”

When asked about their name, she said “I think its offensive” and left it at that.

“I don’t think we have an agreement with the Red– Washington Football Team,” Council chairman Phil Mendelson said. “I don’t think you could make the comparison.”

He also got a jab in at Loudoun County, saying some Photoshopped renderings of the stadium that went around on Twitter in a green pasture looked like “a field in Iowa.”

“There’s no question that the District is the most logical place for the stadium,” he said.

Filed Under: buzzard point, d.c. united, soccer stadium,