The Mobile County Commission is set to decide Tuesday whether to spend $10,000 to lock up a purchase option on 116 acres near the interchange of Interstates 10 and 65, land that could become the site of a long-discussed multi-field soccer complex.
The property, at the northwest corner of the I-65/I-10 interchange, is owned by the real estate firms White-Spunner Realty and Berg and Company. If the county later decides to move forward with a full purchase, the price tag would be $2.96 million. County Attorney Jay Ross told commissioners during a conference meeting that the county would have nine months from the date of the option to make that decision.
Under the terms being discussed, the $10,000 option fee would be refunded in full if the county ultimately chooses not to buy the land. Commission President Connie Hudson described the arrangement as a low-risk way to keep the project moving forward.
“It’s a no-lose situation,” Hudson said.
As part of the deal, the sellers would also include an additional 80 acres of mostly wetlands at no extra cost. Hudson has said in the past that she would like to see that additional acreage developed into a nature trail, adding a recreational amenity beyond the soccer fields themselves.
Hudson has been the leading advocate on the commission for building an 11-field, tournament-style soccer complex at the I-10/I-65 site, arguing that the interstate access would make it an attractive draw for regional and out-of-town tournaments. Commissioner Jerry Carl has pushed back on that plan, favoring instead a complex built on a separate piece of property off McDonald Road in Irvington.
The option agreement includes some added flexibility, and some added cost, if the commission needs more time. Beyond the initial nine-month window, the county could request up to two additional 90-day extensions, but each extension would cost another $10,000, and unlike the original option fee, those payments would not be refundable.
Carl has questioned why the county needs to spend money at all to secure an option on property he said has been sitting on the market for 12 to 15 years without a buyer. He said he remains unconvinced that additional county funds should go toward the project until there is a clearer picture of the complex’s total cost.
“This is typical politics,” Carl said. “We’re getting pushed into a kennel chute, and soon we’ll be so far in that we won’t be able to turn around.”
The commission recently approved roughly $70,000 to prepare the property for a potential sale, including environmental assessments of the site. Hudson defended that spending, saying it would have been premature, and ultimately wasteful, to commission engineering and environmental work without first securing an option to buy the land.
“If you’re going to spend money, you want to make sure the property is secured,” Hudson said. “It’s a process.”
Carl, who withdrew his own proposed project from consideration for county funding last month in favor of pursuing private financing, said he has lined up two significant financial commitments for his alternative plan, though he declined to discuss the details publicly. He said he is working to assemble a board to oversee what could ultimately become as many as three separate soccer-related developments around the Mobile area.
In addition to the Irvington site, which he estimated would cost about $5 million to build out, Carl said he has held discussions with Mobile city officials about a potential site near downtown and with athletic officials about an indoor facility near the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
“We’re worried about spending $20 million on one spot when we can spend that in three other places,” Carl said.
Cost estimates for the I-10/I-65 project, informally referred to by some as the Halls Mill Road complex, have varied widely depending on who is asked. Carl has put the price at around $20 million, a figure Hudson disputes. She has previously estimated the project’s cost at closer to $12 million.
The commission is expected to take up the option agreement at its Tuesday meeting.