Whitecaps, City of Vancouver sign agreement on pursuing new stadium

The Vancouver Whitecaps are moving forward with plans to build a new stadium on the eastern edge of the city. 

The Major League Soccer club and the City of Vancouver announced Thursday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a new stadium and entertainment district at Hastings Park. 

The deal isn't approval for a new project, said Vancouver mayor Ken Sim, but a framework for negotiations. 

“It’s really up to the Whitecaps and if they have future partners to come up with a plan that makes sense," he said. "And then they’ll present that to council and there’ll be a lot of opportunities to go through a public hearing and make sure it works in the context of our city and the region.”

Over the next year, the city and the Whitecaps will attempt to negotiate a long-term lease that would see the city maintain ownership of the land. A design for the stadium will also be put forward, along with the financial terms and community benefits of the project. 

It will be up to the Whitecaps and their partners to finance the plan, Sim said. 

The size of the stadium and what else will be included in the entertainment district remains to be

seen, said Whitecaps chief executive officer and sporting director Axel Schuster.

Now that an agreement has been signed, the team will look for partners and try to determine how much space they need, what they want to do with any additional space, and how to make the project financially sustainable, he said. 

"We're looking at something that makes sense," Schuster said. 

“It’s a lot of work. For that reason, it’s impossible to give a precise answer on any of that.”

The team's current ownership group put the Whitecaps for sale last December and Schuster has long said that securing