( West End ) - The Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority voted unanimously Tuesday evening to give FC Cincinnati an option to buy land in the West End.
FC Cincinnati is still waiting to hear from Major League Soccer if it will get a franchise, but the team has been lining up choices for a location to build a soccer stadium if they do. For weeks, much of the talk has centered on building a stadium in Oakley, but MLS has shown a preference for stadiums in a more urban-core, and the West End would fit that bill.
The land in question, however, is zoned for single-family housing. A woman speaking on behalf of FC Cincinnati spoke at the CMHA meeting, saying "FCC has no interest in building a stadium on these parcels. The team's interest is to take parcels that have been vacant since the initial housing development and put energy behind getting new homes built here." The parcels of land are located north of Ezzard Charles Dr and west of Taft High School along the various windings of Laurel Park Drive, and not all of them are connected.