The city of Boston has given the owners of a new National Women's Soccer League team an additional six weeks to put together financing for its half of the construction costs for a new stadium.
The team, Boston Legacy FC, signed a lease agreement with the city in December that included a financing deadline of Aug. 1 for its portion of the redevelopment of White Stadium in Franklin Park.
However, late last month, the team and Boston Public Schools, which owns the stadium site, signed an agreement to push the deadline back to Sept. 15, according to the Boston Globe .
Boston Legacy FC said in a statement to the Globe that it and its financing partner were still "fully committed" to the project, and the deadline extension was a "typical timeline for finalizing major construction."
The team already placed $25 million into a dedicated escrow account for the project earlier this year.
The lease requires the team to pay the city $400,000 per year, starting in the first year the stadium is operational, with a prorated payment of $200,000 for the first year.
They will also share 10% of advertising, 10% of naming rights and 3% of concessions revenue with the city and will cover ongoing maintenance costs, which the city has estimated at $2 million annually.
The city will cover the construction costs for one side of the stadium, which will be primarily devoted to BPS student athletes.
The cost for the public portion is expected to be over $100 million. But Mayor Michelle Wu said last week that a full cost estimate won't be available until later this year , as bids for the work need to be solicited and reviewed.
Boston Legacy FC recently designated Bond Brothers, the contractor overseeing the city's portion of the work, as its general contractor, according to the Globe.
The majority of the original stadium has been demolished and the city is already conducting some work on the site in preparation for the main construction.
The project has met stiff opposition from Democrat Josh Kraft, who is running against Wu for mayor.
A small but vocal group of residents also opposes the plan, some of whom sued the city in an attempt to stop the redevelopment.
Though a judge dismissed the case in May, the group has since appealed .
In June, Kraft claimed that his campaign had received information from within City Hall that the price tag had risen all the way to $172 million.
Wu, also a Democrat, vehemently denied this, saying at the time that the number had come from an accounting exercise on worst-case scenarios, and it had " never been used as a real basis for conversations or costs ."
More about White Stadium
-
White Stadium renovation cost won't be known until end of 2025, mayor says
-
Boston Mayor Wu slams Kraft over claims White Stadium cost secretly spiked
Read the original article on MassLive .
