Washington, D.C., One Step Closer Toward a Soccer Stadium

Two D.C. Council committees on Tuesday approved up to $150 million in subsidies for construction of a D.C. United soccer stadium, paving the way for the measure to be considered by the full council next month. But the legislation approved by the two committees would alter arrangements for financing the project, and a school for special-needs students has expressed concern that stadium negotiations have sidelined plans to open a campus in the West End.

The committees — headed by Mayor-elect Muriel E. Bowser (D), the Ward 4 council member, and Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) — quickly approved a modified version of Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s proposal for a 20,000-seat soccer stadium at Buzzard Point.

The council’s bill would allow Bowser, who will become mayor Jan. 2, to use eminent domain to take the land for the stadium, which is owned by the Akridge development company. Akridge had hoped to swap the stadium land for the city’s Reeves Center, which sits on a valuable parcel in the booming 14th Street NW corridor. The new plan would allow the District to keep the Reeves Center.