Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that she wants to finalize a deal to build a new stadium for D.C. United in Southwest, but without a land swap that had attracted controversy from various legislators.

Speaking to the Federal City Council, Bowser said the D.C. Council should sign off on the $300 million deal before the end of the year, but expects to “de-link” the Reeves Center located at 14th and U streets NW from any final arrangement.

Under the initial agreement between Mayor Vincent Gray and the team, D.C. would put $150 million towards land and infrastructure, while the team would pay $150 million towards building the stadium. The majority of the land where the stadium is to be built would be acquired through a series of land swaps with the owners, including D.C. giving up the Reeves Center for a large parcel in the stadium’s footprint.

That portion of the land swap has drawn questions from legislators, especially after an independent analysis found that the current arrangement negotiated by Gray undervalued the Reeves Center and overvalued the stadium land, costing D.C. an estimated $25 million if the swaps go forward.

Bowser hinted at her intentions last week, when she said on WAMU 88.5’s The Politics Hour that the team and land owners should be ready to move forward on a deal that doesn’t involve the Reeves Center.

“If the city put in front of the developers and the team a way to get to their stadium without our building, the team would do itself well, and so would the other property owners, to take that seriously,” she said.

Without the Reeves Center, the D.C. Council, Gray and the team will have to re-structure the deal so that the city purchases some of the land in Southwest D.C. where the stadium will go. When she spoke last week, Bowser said that while this could mean a more immediate outlay of public dollars for the land, it would also free up the city to sell the Reeves Center on the open market.

“So if the Council… says we’re willing to support the economic development that a stadium would bring by way of a capital investment, but by the way we’re going to hold on to our building at 14th and U, and maybe next year if we decide to sell it we can get a lot more money for it,” she said.

In a statement, D.C. United Managing General Partner Jason Levien said he was optimistic that the deal could be finalized before the holidays.

“We are encouraged by the Mayor-Elect’s comments tonight and look forward to seeing her proposal. We are eager to work with her, the other members of the Council and the Mayor to get the stadium approved before the end of the year,” he said.

Read more at WAMU