Manchester City has marked a significant milestone in the development of the £300m (€353.9m/$398.1m) venture to deliver a year-round entertainment destination at Etihad Campus, with the Premier League club celebrating the topping out of the project.
With the final steel now installed on site, the topping out ceremony signifies the completion of the highest structural point of the development, which upon completion will increase Etihad Stadium’s capacity from 53,400 to over 60,000, create a new covered 3,000-capacity fan zone, and introduce a state-of-the-art museum experience.
Designed by Populous, the development will also see the opening of The Medlock, a 401-room hotel in collaboration with Radisson, as well as a range of food and beverage outlets operating 365 days-a-year.
Club representatives were joined at the topping out event by apprentices working on the development, construction partner, Sisk, and Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, who all signed a commemorative piece of artwork which will later be permanently installed within City’s new museum.
The completed development is expected to bring hundreds of new full-time and part-time jobs, as well as additional casual roles, to create lasting long-term economic and social benefits for the club’s local community, building on the Council’s and City’s shared priorities for the regeneration of East Manchester.
City today (Friday) said the North Stand itself will open during the 2025-26 football season, with the hotel, workspace, food and beverage outlets and the fan zone, opening in late 2026. These new facilities will sit alongside the 23,500 capacity Co-op Live arena – a joint venture between City Football Group and Oak View Group which finally opened in May last year following a difficult path to delivery.
City Football Group chief operating officer, Roel de Vries, said: “This is a proud moment for Manchester City and for everyone involved in the club’s project to create a year-round entertainment destination at the Etihad Campus.
“The delivery of this project will enable us to enhance and expand our offering to our fans and visitors, both on matchday and non-matchday, and create lasting long-term economic and social benefits for our local community, building on the regeneration work City Football Group has delivered in East Manchester since 2008.”
Craig added: “This is a major infrastructure investment which will create and support hundreds of jobs, adding to the remarkable regeneration of East Manchester in which the club has played a constructive role.
“It’s great to see this construction milestone reached. It means it won’t be long before those benefits for the city and the community start to be realised.”
In March, City’s managing director of operations, Danny Wilson, was quoted as saying the club was aiming to open the expanded North Stand at Etihad Stadium by January 2026, with the club engaging Radisson as its partner for the hotel that is part of the wider project.
City received the final green light for the development project in October 2023, with the club in November announcing that the new steel structure of the North Stand had been attached and bolted to the existing stadium.
