The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to allow construction to begin on a new, privately-funded 12,000-seat soccer stadium for Sacramento Republic FC in the downtown Railyards this summer. The project, which has been years in the making, had two resolutions voted on by the council in Tuesday afternoon’s session. The resolutions passing mean Republic FC can continue its plan to break ground in August in time to open in spring 2027.
The votes on the two resolutions, which both passed, were to finalize the agreements needed to begin construction on the project, including the comprehensive project agreement, land purchase and sale agreement and master funding agreement. The second resolution was the expansion of an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, or EIFD, to help fund infrastructure on the project. “We’ve had the Railyards sitting empty for multiple decades now,” said Republic FC president and general manager Todd Dunivant. “And so the ability to finally build out there — build a stadium, build housing, we have a hospital going in, a music venue — there’s so much excitement around an area that’s long been forgotten. So it’s a big moment.” Both resolutions passed by a 9-0 vote. Mayor Kevin McCarty called it “a transformative project, a once-in-a generation project.”
The plan to develop 244 acres in the Railyards was called by Sacramento’s former Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who was in attendance for Tuesday’s vote, “the single biggest boost” to downtown since Golden 1 Center was opened in 2016 as a result of the Kings avoiding relocation.
The city said the soccer stadium project will create roughly 13,500 on-site jobs, $2.11 billion in annual wages and $4.4 million in economic output. Plan more than a decade in the making Republic FC has been attempting to build a soccer stadium in the Railyards for 12 years, chairman Kevin Nagle said to the council. “We’ve been doing a lot of work in the background,” Nagle said. “We’re ready. We got a lot of opportunity now. It’s taking a deep breath now, moving forward, and trying to make sure we can get to that April ‘27 deadline.”
The club thought it crossed the finish line when the MLS granted Sacramento an expansion franchise in 2019 that was expected to begin playing in a new venue in 2022. But investor Ron Burkle backed out of the agreement citing business concerns related to the pandemic. That plan was approved by the city council and the foundation of the plan remained in place since.
But Burkle’s departure meant the plan lacked capital investment until Wilton Rancheria, the Native American tribe that owns Sky River Casino in Elk Grove, purchased a controlling stake in Republic FC from Nagle last November shortly before an initial term sheet for the new stadium was approved with an 8-0 City Council vote. Wilton Rancheria will be the primary financial backer of the stadium and cover roughly $175 million of the $325 million project. The plans call for a 12,000-seat stadium that could expand to meet MLS requirements should Sacramento re-enter the expansion conversation down the road. It will be built to expand to 20,000 and add a canopy to cover the stands to provide cover to the elements. “The great part about the stadium is it allows us to dream as big as we want,” Dunivant said. “So we’ve designed the stadium in a way that allows for that. If we have a bigger future, and there’s other league’s involved, this stadium’s sort of future proof for that. That was certainly something that we wanted, that’s something that (Wilton Rancheria) has always wanted. It’s an important part of what we’re doing.” MLS expanded to 30 teams this season with the addition of San Diego FC, which paid a record $500 million in expansion fees to join the league. MLS will consider further expansion in the future, while Republic FC has maintained it won’t need MLS to be successful in its new stadium. Nagle said there have been no recent discussions with MLS regarding expansion. He was asked if a $500 million expansion fee is conceivable for Republic FC, should it make the jump to America’s top soccer league. “It’ll probably be at least that, that’s just the reality,” Nagle said. “We wouldn’t want to show our cards and compete against ourselves. But that’s already been a benchmark of theirs. … Is there communication? I think Todd has good relationships with people there. They always monitor and see what we’re doing here. They like what they see, but we have to focus on what we have to do right now, and that is to get our stadium done.”
In the meantime, the team will continue to play in the second-tier United Soccer League where it has been among the league leaders in attendance while playing at Heart Health Park at Cal Expo, a temporary stadium that cost just $3 million when it was built in 2014. The USL is planning to start a “Division One” league by 2027-28 that will compete more directly with MLS — as defined by the U.S. Soccer Federation’s sanctioning standards. The new league will help create a promotion-relegation model, which has existed in English soccer since the late 1800s. Republic FC could be a key team in the new league with a new stadium already backed by a strong fan support and attendance numbers.
What else will be added to Railyards? The stadium is planned for a 14-acre lot east of Seventh Street that includes 17 acres that will include new commercial space called the “Central Shops” area featuring stores, restaurants, a potential hotel and a new concert venue called “The Paint Shop” that could accommodate 3,500 patrons.
Indomitable, the company formed by Sac Republic and Wilton Rancheria, will finalize the purchase of the combined 31 acres from Downtown Railyard Venture upon City Council’s approval on Tuesday. Indomitable will be responsible for all the stadium’s design, construction, operation, maintenance, repairs and improvements. DRV will pay an estimated $75 million to cover the Central Shops and $50 million in infrastructure, which could get reimbursed from the city’s expanded EIFD.
Grand plans amid budget deficit? Critics of the project say plans don’t address affordable housing enough and the city shouldn’t be putting money toward large projects while dealing with a $62 million budget deficit.
City officials have said the money earmarked for infrastructure will not come from the general fund, but the EIFD that was up for vote to expand to cover the 244 acres of the site. The city said the EIFD uses future property taxes from the site to back fill upfront costs the developers fund for required public infrastructure like roads and sewers. The city argued that the project likely wouldn’t happen without an EIFD and the investment is worth the long-term financial benefits of the development. Unite Here Local 49, a labor union representing workers in Sacramento and surrounding areas, had members fill the lobby and the council chambers at Tuesday’s vote. The union held a news conference last week denouncing the stadium plan. “This deal is great for wealthy developers but terrible for workers, tenants, and taxpayers of Sacramento,” said Aamir Deen, president of Unite Here Local 49, in a statement. “Why should Sacramento give these developers $92 million of taxpayer money at a time when this city is struggling with a deficit, making cuts, and laying off unionized city workers?”
WRITTEN BY
Chris Biderman
Sacramento Bee