(Save the date: RealShare New York comes to the Grand Hyatt, New York, NY, October 9.)
NEW YORK CITY-Flushing Meadows – once home to the “Tent of Tomorrow” could be the new site of a state-of-the-art soccer stadium – today. A source close to the negotiations tells GlobeSt.com that Major League Soccer is in talks with the state and the city to construct a $300 million, 25,000-seat stadium within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. If approved, it would become the second national soccer stadium located in the Tri-State Area.
The announcement, first reported by the New York Post, said the proposed facility could be constructed as early as next year next to Citi Field and Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium. An industry source says the new soccer stadium would become the home for the 20th team in the league, which would rival the New York Red Bulls that currently play in Harrison, NJ.
In a statement e-mailed to GlobeSt.com, MLS says it is in “exploratory discussions” with the city and local officials, but is actively eyeing the borough. “We thrilled about the prospect of being in Queens and bringing the world's sport to the world's park,” the organization says. “We look forward to working with the community to build a world class soccer facility for all to enjoy." Published reports show that MLS looked at 20 sites across the five boroughs, including Pier 40 in Manhattan and Randall’s Island before honing in on Flushing.
According to the Post, the city, which owns Flushing Meadows Park, would give up nine acres of land for the project, but would receive an equivalent amount of land from the state to be utilized as parkland. However, a source familiar with the talks tells GlobeSt.com that the land swap deal would have to go through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure and subsequently a parkland alienation process before any new development could occur.
Despite that, the proposal has caught the eye of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo, who both publicly supported the construction of the stadium on Tuesday. The deal would also mark another ‘goal’ for Queens: Earlier this summer, the United States Tennis Association announced a multi-million overhaul of the Louis Armstrong Stadium and the reconstruction of iconic Grandstand in the southwest corner of the property. In addition, Related Cos. and Sterling Equities, a real estate firm affiliated with the New York Mets, got the green light to construct a one-million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex west of Citi Field.
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