With state investment uncertain, Andre Swanston and his Connecticut Sports Group, the developers behind the proposed new soccer stadium, are working with city officials on an additional funding mechanism to help get the venue built. More specifically they would obtain permission from the Connecticut General Assembly to employ tax increment financing (TIF), using a portion of any new real estate taxes generated by the lower East Side redevelopment to pay off some of the construction debt, rather than those revenues going straight into Bridgeport’s coffers. First stop is the state legislature, which must allow Bridgeport to establish a special taxing district encompassing where Swanston wants to erect the stadium — as well as housing, a hotel, retail and restaurant space — in a project that he unveiled in late 2023. While the developers have so far repeatedly declined to talk actual numbers, documents from early 2024 showed the soccer facility’s budget to be $96.2 million. State officials last year awarded a total of $16 million toward helping cover the clean-up of environmental contamination, specifying that should the stadium not move forward those targeted properties will be shovel-ready for other redevelopment.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/taxing-district-soccer-mls-bridgeport-stadium-20262928.php