The city of New York could possibly be welcoming its very first professional soccer stadium in the future, completely changing the local sports business and dynamic and establishing housing and business opportunities.
Proposed to be constructed in Willets Point, Queens, the city council is set to vote yes on the project on Thursday when voting commences at 1:30 p.m.
This public-private partnership would create a new home for the professional New York City Football Club, in addition to other development projects.
The Willets Point revitalization plan is projected to cost around $780 million, and reportedly would be finished in 2027.
The project would also involve the construction of an elementary school, 2,500 housing units with 1,400 affordable housing units, 40,00 square feet of open space, and 80,000 square feet of retail space. In total, the revitalization is expected to create around 16,000 new jobs.
However, with this redevelopment plan also comes the loss of various small businesses in the area that were pushed out due to spacing for the project. Among those were some mechanic shops such as the family-owned Muffler N Mechanic.
According to officials working on the plan, no taxpayer dollars are going to be used to redevelop Willets Point.
The soccer-specific stadium, that would be located across from Citi Field would have 25,000 seats for attendees.
Prior to the forthcoming city council voting, the city’s planning commission unanimously approved the revitalization proposal.
“We’ve been lucky to be able at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field in our time here, but there’s really nothing quite like having your own home,” said Jennifer Sullivan, the COO of NYCFC.
Now, it is just a matter of waiting for city council’s go ahead.
“It’s an exciting thing for soccer, but it’s also an exciting thing for the city of New York and this community to be part of a project that is so transformational,” Sullivan added.
