Roseville Approves Athletic Complex in Hopes of Attracting Tournaments, Tourism Dollars

November 8, 2014 | The Roseville City Council approved plans this week for an athletic and tourism district they hope will attract tou...


November 8, 2014 |

The Roseville City Council approved plans this week for an athletic and tourism district they hope will attract tournaments and the accompanying dollars that come with them.

According to a story published in the Sacramento Business Journal, the $34 million dollar complex is being funded by user fees. Specifically, a $4.50 fee on hotel rooms within the Placer Valley Sports Complex and Tourism Marketing District, which includes Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln. 

With the fee, the three-community tourism cooperative will be able to seek bonds to rapidly develop the 40 to 50-acres of existing park land in Roseville. The tourism agency hopes to have the facilities operating by 2016.

Elk Grove has been contemplating a soccer-athletic complex for several years and took a step in September by purchasing approximately 100-acres outside of city limits for $4.3 million. Elk Grove's bid has been tied up by Major League Soccer, whom the city is attempting to attract an expansion franchise team by an investment group led by former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. 

As part of the MLS proposal, Elk Grove has verbally committed to building and financing a professional soccer stadium to host the team and competitive soccer fields on the 100-acres. Although Elk Grove is seen as a long shot in the race with Sacramento for the expansion team, much less several larger cities, Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis and Nunez have repeatedly insisted the city has a realistic chance of landing the franchise.

"Any notion that MLS only goes downtown isn't true," Davis told the Sacramento Bee.

Complicating matters for the city is that when MLS officials visited Sacramento and Elk Grove in September, they said a decision on which city would be granted the franchise would be made in early December. Earlier this week, the MLS has said it will not make a decision until early 2015, at the earliest.

Davis, Elk Grove Council Members Steve Detrick and Pat Hume did not respond to an email request seeking comment on how Roseville's planning might affect Elk Grove's professional soccer stadium and competitive field proposal.   



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6 comments

Anonymous said...

Roseville hasn't got the jump on Elk Grove..they don't have our Financial Wizards. We're leasing our $4M + property for a farmer to plant a winter crop of hay for $2500.00. Lease ends 7/31/2015. The farmer also has to provide $1M in liability insurance in the joint names of City of Elk Grove and Mahon Farms.

Now what the MLS will think when they make their next visit and see we're growing hay on the property the stadium was supposed to go on is the big question.

And kids... your sports fields are just going to have to wait until that hay is harvested, but remember the big bucks we have coming in to help offset some of the costs to build them.

Anonymous said...

As usual a day late and a dollar short. Perhaps there's room for two similar facilities in the Sacramento area but this hurts. It's like EG working on MLS only to be scooped by Sacramento.

That $2,500 for hay is a solid 0.0625% rate of return on our $4M dollars. That's 0.000625!!!! LOL

Anonymous said...

Our City Councils first big Rah Rah after the election. Isn't it exciting?

726The bottom line is it really cost the city more than the $2500.00 for legal & staff time to write up the lease, research, etc. Two weeks after closing escrow and they're already worried about the costs to keep weeds off...now what does that tell you about this land purchase? They could have at least done a Feasibility Study first to be sure a hay crop would be the best use. I'm thinkin' maybe some "recreational" weed would have been better...keep the sports theme going.

Anonymous said...

I say bring back the ice rink!

Anonymous said...

Yea, an ice rink and a line-up of Food Trucks. OH, I forgot, those are on that other piece of $1M dollar property we bought. Darn we're fast becoming a Destination City. We could always put a shooting range in...it is outside the city linits.

How long will it take for us to pay that property off at $2500. a year..800 years???

Anonymous said...

I second the idea of putting in a world class shooting range and gun store. That is the highest and best use of that hayfield.

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