Manchester City’s huge £300m Etihad Stadium expansion given final sign off

The huge £300 million expansion plans for the Etihad Stadium — which will include a fan zone for up to 3,000 people – has now been given final sign off.

While fans were approved back in July, a number of conditions still had to be approved before town hall bosses gave it the final okay. 

The new expansion of the north stand will increase the stadium’s capacity to almost 62,000 seats with an added new fan zone and event space, which have been unanimously approved for construction.

The plans also include building a 400-bed hotel, TV studio and roof walk attraction.

Back in the summer, several members of Manchester City Council’s committee enthusiastically welcomed the project.

Project agent John Cooper, who attended the meeting, promised the expansion would deliver a ‘world class sports entertainment and leisure district’, bringing a wide range of economic benefits for the city.

Mr Cooper added that he estimated the project would inject an added value of £70 million into Greater Manchester’s economy each year, leading to around 1,795 full-time jobs and a total of over 3,000 jobs including part-time as well as casual work hours. Three councillors spoke in favour of the newly approved plans.