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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/3/2019 at 8:53 AM, Pasken said:

City Staff approved the Site Plan for the stadium yesterday. I imagine they're ready to file permits and we could see work on the foundation in a couple weeks.

You can see the very first stirrings of it on the Live Cam (It's that flat surface on the top left-to middle):

https://app.truelook.com/?u=as1567715491#tl_live

Edited by MillerEP
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21 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Last week I got a call from AFC letting me know that season tickets will go on sale in the first quarter ‘20. I assume this is for those of us who signed up for the spot in line earlier this year.

They said at the M&G last week that they were going to start selling premium club seats around the first of the year and that they hoped to have it all wrapped up by June.

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35 minutes ago, wood said:

Yeah I think it was an appearance where you actually meant to be on tv ... not one of the other kind.

Cut a Heart Walk promo on the way to the stadium groundbreaking. I’ve never been so motivated to nail something on the first take so I wasn’t late to the event.

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22 hours ago, Lobo said:

Anybody else going to this VR season ticket deal TonigtT?   Where exactly do we park; where is the bar, and do we get back down to torchlight parade?

Missed this. Yes, yes I did.And shoutout to ABW for always being there for us with free beer when we ask.

Edited by skittlebrau
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  • 4 weeks later...

City council wants the city staff to work with Cap Metro to see if they can finish funding the new red line stations at the Austin MLS stadium and broadmoor by creating a new tax district in that area. Broadmoor is half funded. Maybe Austin FC might fund half of their station. 

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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN:
The City Manager is directed to work with Capital Metro on the completion of the Broadmoor Rail Station and the McKalla Place Rail Station, assessing various public financing options that can leverage private development and funding, including conducting a feasibility and financial analysis of the creation of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone District, or other value capture financing tools, and provide a memo to Council with the findings of the analysis by January 2020.

 

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New 45 million training facility bordered by Harris Ridge Boulevard in between Parmer Lane and Howard Lane, and one mile east of Interstate 35.

 

 

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The standards are rising in Major League Soccer, and the leaders of Austin FC are determined to meet them.

On Wednesday, ownership group Two Oak Ventures unveiled a major building block in that mission, with details and renderings for a $45 million training facility, called the St. David’s Performance Center, that will sit on 23 acres in Northeast Austin.

The center, home to Austin FC and its academy teams, will encompass four full-size soccer fields along with 30,000 square feet where players, coaches and other soccer operations staff will work, train, eat, watch film, recover and receive medical care. It is scheduled to be completed in time for the team’s first regular-season MLS match in the spring of 2021.

“As an ownership group, we really wanted to make a statement that we’re going to build a world-class facility that’s going to represent what type of club we’re going to be,” Anthony Precourt, majority owner and CEO of Two Oak Ventures and Austin FC, told the American-Statesman. “It’s a recruiting tool for players and coaches. We’re going to have the best infrastructure we can and be in a position to set everybody up for success. With a $45 million budget, I think we’re going to be able to achieve that.”

St. David’s HealthCare purchased naming rights to the facility in addition to becoming the team’s first founding partner, an agreement that was announced in May. The Austin-based medical care provider will contribute technology and personnel to serve its role as official health care provider on site.

“If we’re going to be involved in something like this, we would prefer to be able to contribute what we do and our strengths beyond just funding a sponsorship. This gives us the opportunity to do that in the St. David’s Performance Center,” said David Huffstutler, president and CEO of St. David’s.

The center, which will be part of the future Parmer Pond development, will be privately funded by Two Oak Ventures, with the $45 million price tag for land and infrastructure in a partnership with Karlin Real Estate. Karlin’s Parmer Pond will be a mixed-use development within a 300-acre campus that has Fortune 500 tenants such as 3M, General Motors and Home Depot.

The training facility will be on the east side of the development, bordered by Harris Ridge Boulevard in between Parmer Lane and Howard Lane, and one mile east of Interstate 35. It’s only five miles from where the Austin FC stadium is being constructed near the Domain.

“The first premise was how to create an ecosystem where our players’ and coaches’ lives are as simple and efficient as possible, where there’s limited distractions,” Precourt said. “Having the performance center so close to our stadium at McKalla Place, it’s just minutes away, is significant.”

While much of the front office staff will be located in offices at the stadium, soccer operations will be at the St. David’s Performance Center. There will be close to 100 academy players in addition to about 30 first-team players, along with coaches, trainers and other personnel. Head coach Josh Wolff and academy general manager Tyson Wahl, both former MLS players, had input in the center’s development.

“It says a lot about ownership with Anthony and the support of the local owners as well,” Wolff said. “St. David’s HealthCare is going to play a key role with providing equipment and being more forward thinking with the way the game is moving and the way we treat players from a recovery and rehabilitation standpoint.”

There will be four full-size fields, three with natural grass. The fourth will have an artificial turf surface with stands currently designed to fit approximately 1,000 spectators for academy matches. Precourt said there is the capability to use an air-conditioned bubble, similar to the one used by the University of Texas, for portions of the year.

The center will include a kitchen serving breakfast, lunch and dinner for players, and St. David’s will implement technologies including but not limited to cardio and physio equipment, recovery rooms, water therapy and cryogenics.

The main building will be split in two, with one side dedicated to the first team and the other for the academy, but there will still be plenty of opportunities for the young players to see and interact with the professionals who may one day be their teammates.

“It’ll be close enough to the first team but still removed,” Wahl said. “We hope that it’s motivation for them.”

As for the location, Karlin is betting on the training center adding vibrancy to the business park, making use of an area of town that often sees little action on nights and weekends. Tenants of Parmer Pond will get some access to the facility, but not on the main natural grass fields.

“You now have a large land user and multiple soccer pitches, and that becomes used with the academy on the weekends,” said Jeff Ervin, associate principal and project lead for STG Design, the firm that is designing the Parmer Pond development.

“Now you have something that is dynamic, not 24/7 but certainly during a larger set of business hours. You introduce food and beverage for all the people that will be visiting both for the games as well as the academy parents. That becomes a much more dynamic atmosphere.”

 

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Another thing I've been wondering is who will become Austin FC's USL affiliate?  The Austin Bold would be just about optimal in theory, but after Epstein's shenanigans I doubt that will ever happen.  Would've been cool, though.  They could be rebranded Austin FC 2, and still play out at the COTA stadium.  Everyone wins.

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2 hours ago, Somnio said:

Another thing I've been wondering is who will become Austin FC's USL affiliate?  The Austin Bold would be just about optimal in theory, but after Epstein's shenanigans I doubt that will ever happen.  Would've been cool, though.  They could be rebranded Austin FC 2, and still play out at the COTA stadium.  Everyone wins.

I think the rio grande team is more likely. There is a ton of bad blood between austin fc and Epstein. I also don’t think the bold have long term viability.

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16 hours ago, Pasken said:

I think the rio grande team is more likely. There is a ton of bad blood between austin fc and Epstein. I also don’t think the bold have long term viability.

Would the Dynamo give them up?  I think San Antonio makes the most sense if the Bold is a non-starter, assuming NYC can be persuaded to find someone closer to them. 

Edited by idigTexas
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3 minutes ago, wood said:

I would sooo love it if Austin FC bypasses the Bold and goes to San Antonio for its affiliate. And yeah, I see very little chance of a tieup with the Bold. They're basically at war with them and the Bold likely won't last long imho.

Officials in San Antonio are pretty pissed about the Austin team but I'm not sure if that would factor into a potential partnership between the two teams. I think San Antonio is affiliated with NY FC but there is a new USL team coming to Queens so maybe San Antonio will become available. 

I didn't realize the Dynamo were patterned with the Rio Grande team. 

 

The closest non-affiliated teams are El Paso, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. 

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6 minutes ago, Somnio said:

San Antonio soccer fans would be enraged if their team became Austin FC's reserve team.  They were all but certain they were getting an MLS franchise, and found the notion of lil ole Austin getting a team over them preposterous.

That's a pretty funny trolling opportunity for any surly men around here. Find a SA FC forum and pitch how exciting it would be for them to become our minor league affiliate. 

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4 minutes ago, skittlebrau said:

We’ve developed a pretty good relationship with the EP fans. Some of the folks had an Austin watch party for their playoff game. They seem like a fun group. I would like to see that solidified.

Yep. If not SA, then EP sounds good imho. Anyone but the Bold. Fuck that shit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Austin FC training jersey was supposedly leaked.  It looks pretty good.  I really like the green and black color scheme.  I know St. David's bought the naming rights to the training facility and the practice jersey so I'm sure their name will be on them as well.

https://www.footyheadlines.com/2019/11/new-mls-team-from-2021-ausitn-fc-2020-training-kit.html

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  • 1 month later...

 

Also, work starts this year on improvements to the Burnet+Breaker intersection that would bring sidewalks, bike lanes and more turn lanes to the intersection. The entire Burnet corridor is getting this treatment but that contract won't go out for a couple years due to design/engineering. 

 

MAS-Burnet-Braker-C3-A-Phase-2-Double-Le

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