Utah County is hoping to give a header over the goalie in its bid to become home to Real Salt Lake's soccer stadium.

Especially since Sandy -- which was a top contender for the stadium -- got a red card after the Salt Lake County Council this week rejected a proposal that would put $30 million in hotel taxes toward buying the land and building infrastructure around the stadium.

Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts told the Associated Press on Thursday he hasn't given up on keeping the team in Utah, though St. Louis, where Checketts owns an NHL team, has come up as a possible new location.

"I have said very clearly I only want to own the team in Utah," Checketts told the AP.

Rather than see Real Salt Lake become Real St. Louis, Anderson Development on Thursday stepped in with an offer to donate up to 30 acres of the 1,700-acre former Geneva Steel property it is developing in Vineyard for the soccer stadium.

"We want to see Real Salt Lake stay in Utah. And we want it on the Geneva Steel property in Vineyard. It's time for something of this magnitude in Utah County. Soccer is a big and emerging sport here and there are lots of soccer fans in this area. We could even have a soccer academy," Michael Hutchings, a partner in Sandy-based Anderson Development, said Thursday.

The proposed stadium would likely be in the northern part of the 1,700-acre property in Vineyard, near 800 North, 1600 North and west of Geneva Road, Hutchings said. He declined to put estimates on the value of the deal because the exact acreage of the stadium hasn't been determined.

Checketts and his partners had said they would invest more than half a billion dollars in private capital to build the stadium.

"We like that site because it runs along three I-15 interchanges and an average of 127,000 cars pass the site each day. The future commuter rail, which will run from Weber County to Utah County, will run directly through the site," Hutchings said. "The area surrounding the site has a population density of 1,752 people per square mile, one of the highest in Utah."

Anderson, which has remediated about 300 acres of the 1,700-acre defunct steel plant to date, is planning a mixed-use residential, retail and commercial development in Vineyard. Demolition of existing buildings on the property should be completed in six months.

Hutchings said Checketts's plan to build a hotel, commercial, retail and residential project around the soccer stadium could "work nicely" with Anderson's planned mixed-use development.

"Our next step is to have a more meaningful discussion about infrastructure, construction financing, and most importantly -- figure out if Real Salt Lake wants to locate in Utah Valley," Hutchings said. Preliminary discussions were held Thursday between Checketts; Rondo Fehlberg, former athletic director of Brigham Young University and a law partner of the Salt Lake City law firm of Hutchings Baird & Jones; and Gerald Anderson, a partner and co-owner of the Anderson Geneva property.

Real Salt Lake has been playing at the Rice-Eccles stadium at the University of Utah for the past two years.

"Their goal is to have their own stadium by the 2008 soccer season," Hutchings said.

Checketts could not be immediately reached for comment on Anderson's offer and his plans for the commercial project.

In earlier statements about Salt Lake County's rejection of the Sandy stadium proposal, he called the opposing council members' votes a setback for the club, standing in the way of "what would be one of the largest private capital investments ever made in state history."

Dave Cutler, chairman of the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce, said Anderson's offer of free land has upped the odds of the Real Salt Lake team locating to Utah County.

"Three days ago, I would have thought it a long shot for Real Salt Lake to come to Utah County. Now I'm putting the odds at 50-50 or better," he said. "If they do come here, the hotels, restaurants and area businesses in Orem and Lindon would be big beneficiaries."

Other possible stadium sites include the State Fairgrounds west of downtown Salt Lake City, a location Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has been pushing for the last month, the AP reported.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.