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On the surface, D.C. United's potential relocation to Montgomery County may sound worth exploring, at least to one county councilman.

But factor in the county's current financial problems, plus the costs to bring in the team and build the stadium, and the concept seems unlikely to materialize.

"You have to keep in mind we're looking at a very difficult fiscal situation ourselves," said county spokesman Patrick Lacefield.

Speculation over a move to Montgomery swirled after the Prince George's Council voted not to authorize a state study to build a stadium for the Major League Soccer team there for the team, which now plays its home games at RFK Stadium in Washington. Team officials themselves have been mum on the subject of other possibilities for a new home.

Montgomery Councilman Michael J. Knapp began lobbying his county to communicate with the team about relocating to the Shady Grove area in Rockville.

"We certainly ought to be making a phone call," said Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown, chairman of the council committee that oversees economic development, and one of the few council members still supporting plans for an arena in the county.

Knapp was working his sources, meeting with the county's newly nominated economic development director, Steven A. Silverman, and the county's planning board director. As with most issues of late, the discussions focused heavily on money.

"If [D.C. United] has already gone to a place like Prince George's and they have said no, I think it will require them to refocus their deal structure," Knapp said last week. Requiring a jurisdiction to put up a lot of money "is not going to be a deal starter."

Lacefield said county administrators have been interested in building a 6,000- to 8,000-seat arena in the Upcounty area off Interstate 270, "but even that has not really advanced" with County Council members.

"The D.C. United deal has already not worked in Washington and in Prince George's County, and there may well be reason for that," he said. "Timing is everything. Whether we could put something together at this point even on the arena is questionable, and this [stadium] would be a much bigger facility."

The team had initially planned to move to Prince George's County, but that county's council balked at spending millions to build a 24,000-seat stadium, and killed the plan to study building it.

"We're, of course, disappointed at the outcome of this vote," the team said in a statement. "It's certainly unusual for an elected body to decide it would rather not learn the facts of a proposed opportunity. We will continue conversations with other jurisdictions regarding a future home for D.C. United."

Team spokesman Doug Hicks said last week he had "no information available" on other locations the team was considering for a new home.

If Montgomery County were to consider the move, the team would be a welcome addition to the area, said Trish Heffelfinger, executive director of the Maryland Soccer Foundation.

"The one thing D.C. United does need is to be near a Metro line, because a large percentage of their fans travel by Metro," she said. With the Shady Grove area one of the last remaining large parcels of undeveloped land in the county, the area is perfect, and it is close to the Shady Grove Metro station, she said.

A published report also said Frederick County was in the mix as a possible location for the team, but officials there said otherwise.

"Unfortunately, I'm not aware that we have been contacted at all by D.C. United," said Laurie Boyer, executive director of the Frederick County Office of Economic Development. "We have talked to the folks who were looking in Montgomery County to build the smaller arena, but nothing on the scale of D.C. United."

Frederick city officials haven't been contacted either, said Heather Gramm, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Economic Development.

"This is not a project that we have been working on that I am aware of," Gramm said.

Staff Writer Steve Monroe contributed to this report, which originally appeared in

The Business Gazette.