NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced plans to build a 25,000-seat stadium for MLS club New York City FC on an undeveloped lot near the Mets’ home.
The $780 million stadium, scheduled to open in 2027 in the neighborhood known as Willets Point, will anchor a 20-acre development project that will include 2,500 affordable homes, a new public school and a hotel officials said.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a new neighborhood,” Adams acknowledged in a press conference with other elected officials, as well as representatives from MLS and the development project.
The new stadium will be the first dedicated professional soccer venue in New York City. The 2021 NYCFC champion has played the majority of its home games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx since joining MLS in 2015.
It will be privately funded by NYCFC owners, including UAE Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who also own Manchester City, as well as the Yankees.
“Today is one of the biggest moments in the history of our big league,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who grew up close to the planned stadium. Garber said he’s dreamed of having “a cathedral” to soccer in Queens for 12 years.
This is the latest effort to transform Willets Point, which was a conglomerate of auto parts stores with poor drainage for decades.
“This is a piece of real estate that has fallen into disrepair and been underutilized and ignored in the city,” Adams said. “It had poor infrastructure and was prone to flooding.”
The land belongs to the city and will be leased to the club and a real estate development group, which includes the Related Companies and Sterling Equities, controlled in part by the Wilpon family, former owners of the Mets.
The stadium will be adjacent to Citi Field, where the Mets play, and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home of the US Open.
