As if it wasn’t enough that key city officials have not been willing to agree to support $225 million in public financing for a new stadium at Poplar Point (they’ve been holding at $150 million for the last month), City Paper’s Mike DeBonis reports that more than a dozen people were laid off from United owner Victor MacFarlane’s company last week — including Linda Mercado Greene, a former top aide to Marion Barry who helped…

The Post’s David Nakamura says some Maryland officials would like to lure D.C. United across the border. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, noting the derailed talks between D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. United owner Victor MacFarlane, wrote a letter to the Maryland Stadium Authority asking them to look at snagging United for themselves.”In the wake of these developments, I would strongly urge the Maryland Stadium Authority to meet with representatives from the United to learn…

D.C. Council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) announced the creation of the Poplar Point Coalition over the weekend, just days before the RFEI’s are due from developers for interest in the 130 acre site known as Poplar Point. The announcement comes as tension has been building between the DC United owner, Victor MacFarlane, Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry, and Mayor Fenty. Several months ago a disagreement over total figures…

Written by DCist contributor Jesse Kaye T-21 days. The countdown is on for what may determine the fate of a large part of Southeast D.C. October 19 is the date set by the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development when all RFEI’s, or requests for expressions of interest, are due — and the date by which we ought to finally have an idea of what will happen to Poplar Point. A year ago, the…

Yesterday, D.C. United announced that the Anschutz Entertainment Group had sold the team’s operating rights to an ownership group led by Victor MacFarlane, a real estate and urban development executive. While rumored for several months, the sale came as a surprise, given the details of the deal that emerged yesterday. MacFarlane, who heads the largest minority-owned real estate group in the country, will be joined by Will Chang, the chairman of a global investment…