Future unclear for proposed professional soccer stadium in Everett

Legislative budget compromise leaves out key zoning provision needed to move forward on 25,000 seat stadium near Encore

By Steve Freker

The future of a proposal to site a 25,000-seat professional soccer stadium at a prime waterfront parcel in Everett is unclear at best, following a recent passage of a late-in-the-year spending bill.

A budget deal between the Mass. House and Senate resulted in Gov. Maura Healey signing a $3.1 supplemental budget bill Monday after weeks of legislative delays, debates and disagreements.

The primary need for the bill was to address the heavily-challenged and underfunded — due to the influx of new migrant families— Mass. emergency shelter system and public employee raises.

Left out of the bill was a provision which would have streamlined zoning for 43-acre Everett land parcel where a closed power plant now sits.

At present, the area is considered a “Designated Port Area,” limiting what can be built on the waterfront. An amendment that was considered as part of the supplemental budget bill had requested the Senate to remove that designation, for the purpose of converting the parcel into a professional soccer stadium and a waterfront park.

The stadium, if built, would be the new home of the New England Revolution, owned by The Kraft Group, which also owns the New England Patriots, for a number of years has expressed wanting to move from Gillette Stadium to a site closer to Boston. For several years they have worked on a proposal to build a stadium on land directly across Rt. 99/Broadway from the Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett.

Wynn Resorts owns the 43-acre land parcel in question, having purchased it from Constellation Energy for $25 million in March, this year. Wynn Resorts operates Encore Boston Harbor on behalf of the owner of the casino, Realty Income.

The Mass. House had approved language addressing the zoning in a measure last year, but it did not advance. It appeared the zoning language would be included in the budget agreement reached Thursday by top Democrats in the House and Senate, but the spending bill was delivered without the stadium language.

In an online report this week, State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of Boston—the House’s lead person on the spending bill—said he opposed moving ahead with the zoning change at this time due to unanswered questions about the proposed soccer stadium’s impact overall.

In the past several weeks, leading to the legislation’s finalization of negotiations on the spending bill, the stadium proposal has gotten pushback, from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, TD Garden and various land conservation advocates and groups.

Mayor Wu expressed dismay that the city of Boston had not been included in any conversations leading up to promotion of the stadium proposal, with the land parcel being just a few hundred yards of the city of Boston line.

TD Garden representatives have consistently opposed the project on grounds it would potentially diminish its entertainment revenues, being located about a mile between sites.

The primary opposition from the land conservation parties has been a position that the proposal and zoning should be taken up as a separate issue, a standalone with its own hearing— not as part of the supplemental budget bill.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria and State Sen. Sal DIDomenico both expressed disappointment with the standstill regarding the stadium proposal, particularly due to the pledges from the Kraft Group to the city of Everett which would come with a new soccer stadium:

— $5 million for a new Everett community center

—$10 million earmarked for new affordable housing

—The creation of a new, 4-acre public park on the site of the new stadium facility

“I’m disappointed this language wasn’t included in the final bill,” Sen. DiDomenico said in a statement cited in an online report. “We have worked hard on this issue because as an environmental justice community we deserve something better than a polluted power plant on our waterfront. This is a transformational project and an economic catalyst for our area.”

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, in an online report, said he will continue his advocacy for the project — and the zoning designation change—to state officials.

“I continue to maintain the position that a privately-funded professional soccer stadium—which will invest millions into an historic remediation effort of a defunct power plant, provide economic mobility opportunities for our Everett residents, advance the region’s multi-modal transit network, and create much-needed access to the Mystic River—would be the best use of that portion of Everett’s waterfront,” Mayor DeMaria said in a statement.
Sen. DiDomenico said in a report that he was still hopeful the legislature could still back the provision in the near future.