Hometown Soccer Holdings, a professional soccer organization that works to bring new teams and stadiums to cities across the country, would bring a Major League Soccer Next Pro team to Des Moines with a new stadium built near downtown under a plan unveiled today.

During an event at the Des Moines Heritage Center, leaders of Hometown Holdings, Sporting Kansas City and MLS Next Pro outlined their plan, which includes relocating the MLS Next Pro Team in Kansas City to Des Moines, and building an approximately 6,000-seat stadium where a surface parking lot is currently located north of the Principal Financial Group headquarters.

Chris Klein, president of Hometown Soccer Holdings, spoke with the Business Record in advance of the event, saying that the group announced its joint venture with MLS and private equity backer KKR about six months ago, but has been eyeing Des Moines “as a prime location for an MLS Next Pro team” for a while.

“Des Moines is a sports city,” Klein said. “Looking at how they support the Iowa Cubs, the Iowa Wolves and the Iowa Wild, along with the great plans they have for downtown, we’ve always looked at it as a great location to bring on an MLS Next Pro team.”

The estimated cost of building a stadium would be between $55 million and $65 million.

While several things still need to happen to bring the plan to fruition, “we want to make sure that we were delivering something that could be a team that Des Moines and Iowa could call its own,” he said.

Klein said it also must be something that is interconnected to other amenities downtown, including Casey’s Center, where the Wild and the Wolves play, and Principal Park, where the I-Cubs play.

“All of those things are in place and it makes it the perfect location for an MLS Next Pro team,” he said.

The Hometown Soccer Holdings proposal comes as a plan to bring a United Soccer League team to town hit a snag after talks between the city and Krause+, the property development arm of Krause Group, broke down over the incentive package offered by the city.

While the proposed agreement with Krause+ for a mixed-use district around the stadium is separate from the agreement with the Iowa Soccer Development Foundation for construction of a stadium, everyone involved agrees the Krause development would be critical to the stadium’s success.

The foundation has proposed building a 6,300-seat stadium on the former Dico Inc. industrial site southwest of downtown.

Hometown Soccer Holdings and its partners looked at sites in the metro, including the Dico site, and settled on the surface parking lot near Principal, he said.

“We feel that this has a lot of benefits and not only helps connect the existing entertainment venues that are downtown, with the arena, the convention center and the baseball stadium, this could be used for other events that could better connect assets that are already in place downtown,” Klein said.

Other events could include rugby, lacrosse, men’s and women’s flag football, high school football and other soccer events and concerts, he said.

The site also provides opportunities for future investment around the stadium, Klein said.

“This is a site that we are looking at where there is incredible opportunity for other real estate development around it as part of an overall entertainment district,” he said. “We have engaged Principal and we’re both excited about the opportunity that it presents.”

The 7½-acre site is bordered by Crocker Street to the north and Center Street to the south and near the KCCI tower. It is segmented by Eighth Street, which will be closed, Klein said. 

He said the city has assured him that closing the street would not create any difficulties with traffic flow in the area.

Officials with Principal provided a statement that only read: “Hometown Soccer Holdings has inquired about the property Principal currently has listed for sale. No agreement or commitment has been made.”

Klein said the cost to build a stadium has not been finalized, and the overall economic benefit a team would bring to the city is being evaluated. But Hometown Soccer Holdings and its partners want to move forward quickly to finalize a deal to bring a team to the city, he said.

“We certainly don’t want to take a lot of time,” Klein said. “We know that Des Moines and the people of Iowa have waited a long time for professional soccer, and so our commitment is, if we have the opportunity, we would dig in with all the stakeholders and try to move very quickly to make this dream a reality for the people of Des Moines.”

He said Hometown Soccer Holdings is familiar with the financial tools available at the city, county, and state levels, and is working with those stakeholders to finalize a project.

In a statement provided to the Business Record ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen said the city is evaluating the proposal to bring an MLS Next Pro team to the city to see how it would fit into the city’s “long-term vision to bring vibrance, excitement, and enhanced economic vitality to downtown Des Moines before making a final decision.”

She said after more than seven years of negotiations with Krause+ the city has a duty to represent the best interests of its residents and be open to new possibilities.

“A project of this magnitude has the potential to reshape downtown Des Moines and catalyze growth throughout the surrounding area, and I look forward to learning more about the project and MLS’s vision for becoming a part of the Des Moines community,” Boesen said.

Chris Oxley, chief development officer for Hometown Soccer Holdings, spoke at Tuesday’s event, where he said the group has had initial conversations with the city and is waiting for direction from the city on how to proceed.

“We’d like the city to say, ‘Great, we’re engaged,’ and go arm and arm, sit down and work together with Hometown in a meaningful [way] because this is something we want to explore. That’s the next step for us,” Oxley said.

He said Hometown Soccer and its partners want to hear from elected officials on the state, county and state level.

Initial talks have been “very positive,” Oxley said.

Until those talks take place and Hometown Soccer learns more from those officials, it is difficult to identify how much the group would need in financial incentives from local, county and state governments to move the project forward.

While an economic impact study for Des Moines has not been done, Oxley said the stadium could host more than 50 events a year, drawing more than 300,000 visitors a year, driving traffic to area hotels, restaurants and retail.

Oxley and the others also spoke about their desire to bring professional women’s soccer to Des Moines and linking with the National Women’s Soccer League.

The group also has a proposal to develop the Dico site for fields for youth soccer, and other sports.

He said while the proposal is in its very preliminary stages, it’s believed it would be less expensive than developing the Superfund site for a stadium because it would involve what essentially is an overlay rather than having to dig into the ground.

The cost wasn’t immediately known, but it would not be included in the cost to build the stadium, Oxley said.

Jake Reid, president and CEO of Sporting Kansas City, the professional soccer club that operates the MLS team in Kansas City, said the group already manages 25 turf fields over three different sites in Kansas City, and believes a similar development is possible in Des Moines.

Reid said Des Moines and Iowa already have the fan base for professional soccer as many fans already travel to Kansas City for games there.

MLS Next Pro, which currently has 30 teams and is looking to grow, is the equivalent of Triple-A for baseball, the level the Iowa Cubs are in. 

Ali Curtis, president of MLS Next Pro, said that more than 275 players have signed MLS first team contracts after playing in MLS Next Pro. He cited several players, including Alex Freeman, who started every game of this year’s World Cup for the U.S.

“It’s exciting because you’re seeing so many of these really talented players competing week in and week out in MLS Next Pro and the sky’s the limit,” Curtis said.

Klein said more than half of the roster of the men’s World Cup team and the national team have played in the MLS Next Pro League.

“These are without fail the best players that are a day, a week or a month away from playing for the only first division in our country, which is MLS,” he said. “This is the future of professional soccer. These are the next great household names and stars.”