Man City's £300million Etihad Stadium expansion approved

A £300m expansion of the Etihad Stadium which would increase its capacity to almost 62,000 seats and create a new fan zone was unanimously approved for construction. Several members on Manchester council’s planning committee enthusiastically welcomed the project at a meeting earlier today (July 27).

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.

He estimated the project would inject £70 million of added value into the Greater Manchester economy each year, and lead to 1795 new full-time jobs and a total of over 3000 including part-time and casual work. Three councillors spoke in favour of the proposal.

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Councillor John Hughes said: “I support this project - and not just because I’m a City fan, but because this is an absolutely brilliant scheme for the Manchester community, including the extra jobs it will bring.”

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 3.

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