New $2.2B Titans stadium announcement could come Sept. 14

(The Center Square) — An announcement could be coming in two weeks about the terms of a deal being finalized between Metro Nashville and the Tennessee Titans related to an estimated $2.2 billion new covered stadium on the plot of land next to the current Nissan Stadium.

"While nobody is committing to it as directly as I'm about to say it, there's strong indications that they're planning on making public the terms of the deal they're working on at that time," East Bank Stadium Committee Chair Bob Mendes said at Tuesday night's meeting.

Mendes laid out a plan for the committee's work between now and November in order to be prepared for a potential Metro Nashville council vote on bonds for the project in late November.

The announcement from the Nashville mayor's office and Titans would come at a 5:30 p.m. meeting scheduled on Sept. 14.

"I think the earliest time we would be asked to make a substantive vote is end of November," Mendes said. "I think there's voices around that suggest it could be December or slide into the New Year. But it won't be us that causes delay. So we are going to get our work done as much as possible as quickly as possible."

Mendes' plan included an analysis of the deal, as presented, from council counsel Margaret Darby on Sept. 28 along with a presentation on the economic impact of professional sports stadiums from experts. Mendes said he is still working on getting speakers on economic impact.

"I am confident that the plain-English answer to the technology requirements and the first-class condition, the plain-English answer is 'Well, people might have a multi-hundred millions of dollar difference of opinion on what it means and that's as much clarity as you're going to get absent litigation,'" Mendes said.

The Titans will then come to the committee to present new stadium design ideas and its community benefits plan on Oct. 5 before a discussion from the mayor's office and planning department about the plan for the East Bank neighborhood set for the 130 acres around the new stadium on Oct. 12.

After public hearings on the matter, Mendes hopes to have Venue Solutions Group present the results of its more than $250,000 city-sponsored analysis of the city's lease obligations at a Nov. 9 meeting, if VSG's work is completed by that time.