D.C. stadium vote delayed until next year

D.C. officials said yesterday that the D.C. Council will not vote on a lease agreement for a new ballpark for the Washington Nationals before a Dec. 31 deadline. However, they said they think Major League Baseball will negotiate with the city rather than pursue arbitration.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams and officials from the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission said the city will not schedule a D.C. Council vote on the lease this year.

The city is continuing to negotiate with Major League Baseball (MLB) for minor changes to the document in an effort to persuade seven council members to approve it. A vote had been scheduled for yesterday, but it was postponed until at least Jan. 3.

The delay technically places the city in violation of the baseball stadium agreement approved by the council last year. Officials, however, said they don’t expect the matter to go to arbitration, which could make the city liable for millions of dollars in damages.

“The fact that we are going to be a few weeks late on this is, in my judgment, not going to be an issue,” said Mark Tuohey, chairman of the sports commission. “We’re in regular conversations. … We are going to be working with baseball over the next few weeks to prepare the document that will go before the council.”

Mr. Tuohey said the cost and construction timeline for the stadium — to be located on South Capitol Street near the Anacostia River — would be unaffected. He did, however, acknowledge an extensive delay would be a problem.

“The contractors and the architects will not be affected at all by a three- or four-week delay,” he said. “If it were three or four months, it would be a very important delay.”

Mr. Tuohey and William Hall, the chairman of the commission’s baseball committee, met yesterday morning with Richard Weiss, an attorney for MLB and partner at the Foley & Lardner law firm.

Mr. Weiss declined to comment on the talks, and calls to MLB officials were not returned. In a letter to D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp Monday night, MLB President Bob DuPuy said the league would “have no choice but to prepare for arbitration” if the lease were not approved by year’s end.

The mayor requested late Monday that the council delay the lease vote, citing the need for small changes, such as adding more free seats for disadvantaged youth. But several council sources said the vote was delayed because the council likely would have rejected the measure.

Five council members solidly support the lease, and the mayor has been lobbying others. Five members are considered to be swing votes — Carol Schwartz, at-large Republican; Vincent C. Gray, Ward 7 Democrat; Marion Barry, Ward 8 Democrat; Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat; and Kwame R. Brown, at-large Democrat.

Mr. Barry, however, said yesterday that he likely would vote against the lease unless MLB agreed to more sizable concessions.

“If we lose the team, it’s because of them,” Mr. Barry said. “I have no responsibility.”

Council staffers said changes to the lease could sway some council members but also said the city will get seven votes in favor of the lease only if it receives commitments from private developers and the federal government to pay for infrastructure and Metro upgrades.

The city plans to borrow $535 million, an amount it says can support a $631 million building project. However, the most recent cost estimate for the stadium is $667 million. The city has asked outside sources to pay for non-ballpark costs.

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