Construction on McKalla Stadium, future home to
Major League Soccer team Austin FC,
remains on schedule to begin in early September, according to a presentation given by team and city officials on July 11.
According to the presentation given by Precourt Sports Ventures President Dave Greeley and Austin Commercial executives, construction on the stadium is staying on its original timeline, which calls for the stadium to open in spring 2021. PSV selected Austin Commercial this spring as the construction manager to build the stadium at McKalla Place.
Austin FC submitted its site plans for the stadium at McKalla Place to the city in March,
according to city documents. The team’s site plans and building plans must be approved by the city of Austin before construction can begin on the stadium.
"The city will have to approve our site development permit and then we can start mobilizing on [the] site," said Jordan Enke, vice president of stadium operations for Austin FC. “We’re on time so far.”
Sylvia Arzola, public information officer for the city of Austin's Development Services Department, told
Community Impact Newspaper in an email that Austin FC’s submitted site plan will become available to public viewing after the site plan has been approved.
Greeley presented preliminary site plans for the stadium site at the event, which includes mixed-use development sites, an amphitheater and affordable housing units. During his speech, Greeley also said that the stadium design will completely cover the seating sections in shade.
While fielding a question from the audience, Greeley stated Austin FC will cover up to $640,000 for a Capital Metro bus station at the stadium. In an agreement with the city, Austin FC agreed to commit $3.6 million in funds to Capital Metro for
public transportation solutions to the stadium.
“Hopefully the other $3 million will be utilized to service the site as a park-and-ride [or] as a rail station,” Greeley said. “It is very much a multimodal transportation stadium, there are a lot of ways people can get to and from the stadium.”
Currently, Austin FC is
reviewing and addressing comments on the submitted site plan by city staff, according to city documents. This process is expected to last several weeks before final site plan and building plan approval, after which construction on the stadium can begin.