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One Loudoun breaks with baseball, soccer teams

Loudoun HoundsThe developer of One Loudoun in suburban Virginia are seeking to break a lease for land meant for a Loudoun Hounds ballpark — once pitched as an independent league team — but baseball is still on the agenda for the development.

One Loudoun, LLC has filed suit in Loudoun County Circuit Court seeking to terminate a lease with VIP Sports and Entertainment over a new facility to house the Hounds, envisioned as an Atlantic League expansion franchise, and an NASL expansion team, Virginia FC. The 10,000-seat ballpark would have been configured for dual use.

But attempts to privately finance the stadium were stalled, and the opening date was consistently pushed back. From the Loudoun Times:

According to the documents, the complaint was filed in an “attempt to revive the public’s dream of bringing professional baseball and soccer to Loudoun County.”

The documents site the inability of VIP to deliver a stadium at Route 7 and Loudoun County Parkway by April 2014. They state that VIP has “no hope of obtaining the bona fide funds for the stadium project, now refuses to acknowledge the loss of its tenancy interest in the stadium property.”

Plans are in place to find new owners to lead the effort to bring two professional sports teams to Loudoun, according to Bill May, the Vice President of Miller and Smith Developers for the One Loudoun Development.

According to the Times, VIP Sports and Entertainment has moved out of its Dulles office and disconnected its phone system.

The developer may be onto something when it comes to potential sports-facility development: Loudoun County has the demographics and population most marketers drool over — the county’s median income of $119,134 was the highest in the country in 2011 — and those sorts of numbers make it attractive for both pro baseball and soccer.

RELATED STORIES: Hounds seek new bonds for ballpark construction; New Hounds ballpark approved; Local residents: Loudoun Hounds, stay off our lawns!; Loudoun Hounds: We have deal for 2014 ballpark; Pro soccer could revive Loudoun Hounds ballpark plan; New Loudoun ballpark delayedNew for 2012: Loudoun HoundsThree finalists announced for new Loudoun team nameOn tap for new Loudoun ballpark: microbreweryLoudoun supervisors OK new Atlantic League ballparkBaseball advisory board formed in Loudoun CountyNew Loudoun ballpark close to go?

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