The complex includes a private health club, water park; venues for basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball, swimming, climbing, gymnastics, golf, and squash; and two professional regulation-sized indoor ice hockey rinks and one soccer pitch.
[6] The St. James was founded by former football players Craig A.A. Dixon, an investment banker, and Kendrick F. Ashton Jr., a mergers and acquisitions lawyer, who met as classmates at the College of William & Mary in 1994.
An August 2021 report in The Athletic alleged that Torres' exit was linked to inappropriate behavior at a party following the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.
Following the reassignment, The Washington Post published a report containing allegations by former players, including Kaiya McCullough, of racist and abusive behavior by Burke.
[26][27] In November 2021, The St. James co-founders Ashton and Dixon submitted a bid with Boehly, Eldridge Industries, and investor Jennifer Tepper Mackesy to purchase the Spirit at a valuation of $16 million.
[28][29][30] As part of the bid's public announcement in December 2021, The St. James described plans to provide performance services, youth soccer programming, and brand partnerships to the team.
[12] In February 2018, the organization submitted preliminary plans for a 435,000-square-foot complex on 43 acres in the village of Lincolnshire, Illinois,[34] which began a two-year zoning and architectural review process in August 2018.
The St. James requested and received a one-year extension for submitting plans on the project in February 2021, citing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company's finances.