A £300M expansion of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium which would increase its capacity to almost 62,000 seats and create a new fan zone was unanimously approved for construction.
The plans to extend the north stand include building a 400-bed hotel, TV studio and roof walk attraction as well as a fan zone for up to 3,000 people. The project’s agent at the meeting, John Cooper, promised the project would deliver a “world-class sports entertainment and leisure district”, set to bring wide-ranging economic benefits to the city.
Under the plans, the north stand’s capacity would be increased by 7,900 seats taking the total capacity to 61,968. The current club shop would be knocked down and an eight-storey building with a new store, ticket office and museum would be created offering an ‘interactive visitor experience venue’ on level three.
The upper floors would be used as workspace for small businesses and start-ups. A nine-storey hotel with 391 bedrooms and 10 suites would also be built. Between the hotel and club shop building, City Square would be ‘refreshed’ to create a new covered fan zone and event space with a 3,000-person capacity.
