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RICHMOND HEIGHTS — There’s a new idea for this town’s long-stalled Hadley Township redevelopment area: a big-league soccer stadium.

A local developer recently filed a proposal with Richmond Heights to build an 18,500-seat arena along Hanley Road. It would be the centerpiece of a 57-acre complex of stores, offices and housing that would cost roughly $400 million.

It’s still in the early stages, but Gateway Real Estate Partners envisions the stadium as a potential home for the Major League Soccer franchise that a St. Louis-based group has been pursuing for several years.

"I’ve thought that area of the county would be an ideal spot for a soccer stadium," said Ryan Woods, who heads Gateway, which is also redeveloping the former Schnucks site nearby at the intersection of Clayton and Hanley roads.

Woods said he has discussed the plan with Jeff Cooper, the chairman of St. Louis Soccer United, but that those talks have been very preliminary.

"I have not put a plan in front of him to consider," Woods said.

Indeed, Cooper, who’s awaiting the next round of MLS expansion, said he’s focused on two other stadium sites — one in Collinsville and another at the St my credit score. Louis Soccer Park in Fenton, which his group recently acquired from Anheuser-Busch InBev.

"The Richmond Heights proposal is not one that has our attention at this time," he said in a statement.

Gateway’s proposal was the only one Richmond Heights received for Hadley Township this spring, when the city sought new ideas for the site after three years of negotiations with another developer fell apart.

The idea for the stadium plus two hotels, office and retail space and housing was cobbled together quickly to meet the deadline in late May, Woods said. Now it is "very much in flux" as Gateway bores down on financing, traffic issues and the right mix of potential uses.

"We’re working on a more serious plan to put in front of the city," he said.

That plan is due by October, and until then, said Richmond Heights City Administrator Amy Hamilton, the city will take a wait-and-see approach.

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