A giant sports complex featuring a stadium of 15,000-seats with 22 soccer and football fields and seven baseball diamonds will be built next to Stonecrest Mall in the southeast DeKalb County.
The developers announced to Atlanta Sports City on Wednesday, which will be located on a nearly 200-acre site they hope the stadium will attract the regional youth tournaments, professional teams and tourists to the area. The $200 million sports center is located along I-20 and will become the second-largest multi-sport facility of this kind in the southeast, just behind the 220-acre Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports.
It will also join the other new sports facilities including the new SunTrust Park for the Atlanta Braves in Cobb County and Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Atlanta Falcons in the downtown Atlanta.
Trey Brantley, CEO of the First Team SC said that, the two professional soccer teams could move in to the area over the next couple of years. A men’s team could move there in the year 2018, and he hopes for a women’s team in the year 2019.
Greg Griffith, the executive director of the Georgia Soccer Association said that, in addition to this, the Atlanta Sports City will provide a venue for large regional soccer events which the metro area currently lacks.
Griffith also said that, this facility will provide a place for the dozens of local tournament and give us the ability to bid on major regional and national tournaments. The proximity to metro Atlanta and the best airport in the country makes this as a great location for the sports complex.
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According to a study by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute, the sports complex could draw 3 million visitors annually, creating the economic impact of $197 million impact. It is anticipated to create nearly 2,000 permanent jobs.
It includes a 204,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility and also five basketball courts. Many other sports, from martial arts to volleyball, can also use the facilities.
James Tsismanakis, the executive director of Discover DeKalb said that, “Atlanta Sports City is the definitely going to be one of the biggest economic development projects around.”
The complex will be owned by a company called Atlanta Sports Connection and developed by the Atlanta Partners for Development.
Mrudula Duddempudi.
