Oak View Group has unveiled plans for the United Kingdom’s biggest indoor arena to be built in Manchester. The project, to be located next to the Etihad stadium, will also be Europe’s most expensive arena at an estimated cost of £350 million.
Oak View Group has yet to submit a formal planning application for a 23,500 capacity venue, but Chief Executive Officer, Tim Leiweke, said that Oak View Group has been communicating with the community since August and are keeping their priorities and vision in mind.
The new arena will provide employment to 1,000 people once it is operational and 3,500 people during the construction phase. Mr. Leiweke said “Through extensive community and city centre consultations, we have understood the local priorities and vision that is transforming Eastlands, along with the ambitions that underpin Manchester’s development as a thriving place to live and visit.”
Oak View Group management has said that the new arena will host around 120 events per year, with a particular focus on music.
Currently, the arena that holds the most people is the O2 Arena in London, which has a capacity of up to 20,000 people. The Manchester Police have also developed a security strategy, in light of the terror attack at Manchester Arena in May 2017.
Tim Leiweke, co founder and CEO of OVG said: “Our new venue would attract a wider range of the world’s most exciting events and create thousands of skilled jobs, genuine community opportunities, and significant economic benefits. It would place Manchester on the global entertainment map for decades to come.”
“We appreciate the significance of our proposals for the entire city. We will present our full analysis of the Manchester opportunity along with our plans and are committed to engaging in dialogue and scrutiny throughout the planning process to ensure a second arena is a win-win for the city.”
Oak View Group had a strategic reason to open the arena in Manchester. Mr. Leiweke said that the Manchester Arena lacks modern features of newer bigger venues around the world. According to him, Manchester is missing out on many large scale events because of this.
He said: “If you look at London, when The O2 was built many people predicted the demise of Wembley Arena, but they’ve just had the best year they’ve ever had. There’s one new proposed arena in addition to that one and probably a second one coming. So that’s potentially four in London. Birmingham have two next door to each other that do well”.
“Manchester is not only the second biggest market in the UK, it’s a capital market for around fifteen million people in the north”, he went on. “This is a cultural capital, this is where people go for music, for entertainment, for sports. We believe two arenas will do just fine”.
The company also made it clear that it had plans on incorporating various low carbon technologies and waste reduction measures to ensure environmental sustainability. The company also said that it would arrange a residents’ parking scheme and invest in improved campus-wide cycle facilities.
