The plan to construct 18,000-seat soccer stadium in Concord has been cancelled. Real estate developer Mark Hall said that the economic crisis being faced due to coronavirus is the reason behind the decision to cancel the plans of building the stadium.
But USL East Bay owner Hall has not given up the efforts to start a USL Championship team, the second division of soccer in the United States, by 2021. Currently, after the Concord plan was cancelled, he is looking for a home stadium and is expected to find one before 2021 events kick off.
The Concord stadium was to be built by Hall Sports Ventures, a division of Hall Equities Group. This project was to serve as mixed-use development. But the plan was not cancelled because of Coronavirus alone, but it also faced stiff opposition from various communities in the downtown.
Agreement signed to use 33-acre land
It all started when Hall signed an agreement with Concord for a whopping $100,000 in 2019. Accordingly, he was to use the 33 acre property to build a huge stadium, a hotel, convention centres and some offices.
Hall also had plans to use the huge stadium for renting out for concerts. The unused land belonged to the city authority and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). Concord was chosen by Hall as the property borders bordered by Oak, Laguna, and Galindo Streets, and is near to the Concord BART station.
He hoped to start building the stadium by 2021 with an aim to complete the construction by 2023. However, this plan was strongly opposed by various communities, who had a problem with Hall using 33 acres of space. The representatives said that they were fine with building a stadium with the capacity to accommodate 5000 to 6000 people which was not fine with Hall.
USL Championship team
Three years ago, Hall procured the territorial rights to start a USL Championship team, the second division of soccer in the United States, by 2021. He also has rights of Santa Rosa in the North Bay, Alameda and Contra Costa in East Bay counties and also in Turlock.
Before selecting Concord, Hall was looking into building the stadium in Oakland using the Coliseum land. But this project also did not work out.
Reacting to the same, Concord Mayor Tim McGallian said that though the Hall project has not been a reality, the authorities will look for other plans to bring new jobs, housing and retail space to Concord.
