December 4 – Later today New York City FC will break ground on Etihad Park, its new 25,000 capacity stadium in Willets Point, Queens, that will be completed in time for the start of the 2027 season.
The stadium, New York’s first soccer-specific venue, has been designed by architects HOK, with the projected $780 million building costs to be privately financed by NYCFC which is majority owned by City Football Group.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, came on board as the stadium’s naming rights sponsor last month.
The stadium is the cornerstone of the transformational Willets Point Phase II Redevelopment Plan, which will include the largest all-affordable housing development project in New York City in 40 years.
The New York City Council approved the stadium in April as part of a redevelopment that includes 2,500 housing units, a new public school, hotel, and retail stores.
NYCFC president Brad Sims said: “The more activity that can happen in development in Willets Point and make it a live-work-and-play neighbourhood the better.”
The club will lead the ground breaking ceremony with Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President & CEO Andrew Kimball and Queens Development Group (QDG), a joint venture formed by Related Companies and Sterling Equities, on site, alongside elected officials Councilmember Francisco Moya, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, and Queens Community Board 7.
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