It’s been a long wait, but the Houston Dynamo finally have a home of their own.

The Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Tuesday to join the city of Houston in helping to build a $95 million stadium in the east end of downtown.  It was joyous news for a franchise that has sought its own soccer-specific stadium for the last 15 years.

Making it happen wasn’t easy.  After two years of negotiations in Houston, the Dynamo eventually agreed to pay $60 million in construction costs, with the city and county pledging $20 million in infrastructure improvements around the stadium.  The city paid $15 million in March 2008 to purchase the land for the facility. The county will reimburse the city $7.5 million for that land purchase.  Texas Southern University also chipped in funds for the right to play its home football games in the new stadium.

It was the desire for a soccer-specific stadium that brought the Dynamo to Houston in the first place.  As the San Jose Earthquakes, the franchise negotiated with that city for years without being able to come to terms on a stadium for the team.  In 2005, the Earthquakes relocated to Houston, took the name Dynamo, and elected to begin talks anew with a new group of local powerbrokers.  Throughout, the Dynamo’s ownership has maintained that control of its own stadium was essential for the team to turn a profit.  The team has played in the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium since its arrival, but has not been able to control concessions, parking, vending, and other money-making operations key to modern sports business.

The next step forward before building can commence will be formal approval by city and county officials to create an TIRZ economic zone around the stadium to redevelop the area and use new tax revenue from redevelopment to pay the city's and county's portions of the project.