New potential ownership announces plans for new Crew SC stadium in Confluence Village

The new ownership group, led by Dr. Pete Edwards and Jimmy and Dee Haslam, currently attempting to purchase the rights to operate Columbus Crew SC and the Columbus Partnership announced plans on Thursday for a new for a new “Columbus Crew SC Arena” to be built close to downtown as part of the new Confluence Village. The announcement came on Thursday at an event with fans and media at Land Grant Brewery. The deal leverages land owned by Nationwide Real Estate Investments and the City of Columbus to form a 33-acre parcel.

The proposed stadium will be a multi-level venue that will be constructed as the home of Crew SC but will also have the flexibility to host international matches as well as major non-soccer events and concerts. Groundwork on this stadium would begin in August of 2019 with completion expected by March of 2021.

If built as currently planned, Confluence Village will be broken up into 13 acres for the stadium, 15 acres for private development and five acres for public infrastructure, including Riverfront Park. This plan includes 270,000 square feet of private commercial and office space that will accommodate up to 1,300 employees. There will also be 885 residential units with a minimum of 20 percent affordable units. The building of the stadium and transforming of the land where MAPFRE Stadium sits will include a historic number of minority contractors.

Crew SC’s new stadium is expected to cover 430,000 square feet on the land of Confluence Village. It will be a 20,000-seat stadium with 17,000 general seats, 1,900 club seats at the centerline and field level with hospitality space. The Nordecke supporter’s section will feature 3,200 safe standing seats and will come with a dedicated entry and concourse as well as fan patio decks. The new stadium will feature 30 suites and 30 loge boxes located along the sideline as well as a variety of unique fan experiences, including field access and proximity to the player and team areas.

This news comes just a day after Columbus City officials announced the plans to repurpose the land current Crew SC home, MAPFRE Stadium, sits on into the Community Sports Park that will not only be the location of the Black & Gold’s new training ground but will also feature soccer fields, basketball courts, programming spaces and green space for use by the community.

The location for Confluence Village sits at the west edge of the Arena District on Nationwide Blvd. The stadium will be the third within the neighborhood along with the Columbus Clippers’ Huntington Park at the corner of Nationwide Blvd. and Neil Ave and Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, which sits at the corner of Nationwide Blvd. and Front Street.

The site will undergo infrastructure enhancements. The current Nationwide Investments lot has been cleared while some site work will be needed for the city-owned land to clear some buildings.

The total cost of the of the stadium is expected to be $230 million with $187 million coming from hard costs and the remaining $43 million stemming from soft costs (design, permits, other needs). The new Crew SC ownership group will invest $645 million for the team — and estimated $150 million — the building of the new stadium and the construction of the Community Sports Park. The City of Columbus will invest $50 million for infrastructure and the Community Sports Park but that investment will not go toward the building of the stadium. The Franklin County Commission will also invest $50 million over 30 year.

Based on the announced plans, the City of Columbus anticipates $1.1 billion in direct spending and the creation of 983 new jobs over 30 years.

The construction on the Community Sports Park, including the team’s new practice facility, will begin near the completion of the new stadium, allowing Crew SC to continue to play its home games at MAPFRE Stadium for the 2019 and 2020 seasons before entering the team’s new home at Confluence Village in 2021.

The news this week of the Columbus Partnership and new ownership group teaming with the City of Columbus to build both of these areas is another step in guaranteeing that Crew SC remains in Columbus.