Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles Football Club broke ground Tuesday on its new $250 million, 22,000-seat Banc of California soccer stadium, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
- The new facility will be be built on the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which is slated for demolition in about a month. Team officials said the stadium will be ready for the 2018 Major League Soccer season.
- City officials hope the expected $350 million in private investment in South Los Angeles will revitalize the area. The project marks the most expensive "soccer-specific" project in Major League Soccer history.
Dive Insight:
In May, the team announced that it had chosen PCL Construction as the general contractor for construction of the Gensler-designed stadium, which will feature a soccer museum, office and conference space, restaurants, retail and a semi-transparent canopy. At the time of the announcement, team officials said the project would create 1,200 new construction jobs and 1,800 permanent jobs after the project is finished, with a 40% set-aside for local workers. The team also announced it had entered into a project labor agreement with the Los Angeles and Orange County Building & Construction Trades Council in order to include union labor in the construction phase.
The celebrity-owned LAFC stadium will be funded entirely with private money, but the team has said that necessary infrastructure and environmental work could qualify for some public money or concessions.
In soccer stadium news on the East Coast, D.C. United unveiled the revised design for its $300 million soccer stadium this week. The team tapped Turner Construction to build the new facility, which is expected to create 1,000 jobs, both construction and permanent, as well as provide a $1 billion economic boon for the surrounding area. The team and the District will split the stadium cost, with the city paying $150 million for land and site work and the team paying for construction. The two will pay 50-50 for construction cost overruns up to $20 million.
