SOCCER BUSINESS: Detroit City FC finally unveils official new renderings and plans for soccer-specific stadium
- Dan Stickradt
- Jun 27
- 3 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
DETROIT — After Detroit City Football Club ownership announced in May of 2024 that it had purchased some property west of downtown Detroit, the group has begun releasing plans for the new stadium.
Detroit City FC unveiled draft plans Tuesday for a new 15,000-seat stadium in the city’s Corktown neighborhood, with the club targeting a spring 2027 opening.
The stadium will sit on a 17-acre site at Michigan Avenue and 20th Street, bridging Corktown and Mexicantown on the city’s west side. The west side of the site will house the new stadium, while the east side is planned for bars, restaurants and other commercial spaces.
Club co-founders Sean Mann and Todd Kropp shared details at the recent Corktown Business Association meeting, held at the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit.
The project requires demolition of the long-vacant Southwest Detroit Hospital, which sits abandoned on the site. Detroit City Council recently approved funding to tear down the structure, with demolition expected to begin in July of 2025. Construction crews must also drain and filter out around 1.5 million to two million gallons of water from the building’s basement – work that will begin in late June.
Removing the hospital and preparing the area for construction is expected to cost $6.5 million, which the city will reimburse the club over 21 years.
Mann said the goal is to start construction in early 2026 and open the stadium by spring 2027. The project also includes a multi-level parking deck near the stadium.
Detroit City FC currently plays at the 7,900-seat Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, built in 1936. Hamtramck High School also uses the facility which is now 89 years old.
Detroit City will remain at Keyworth, which has little parking in the area, through the 2025 and 2026 seasons until its new yet-to-be-named stadium is completed.
DCFC is the highest level of professional men’s soccer in the state of Michigan, competing in the USL Championship since November 2021. The side is currently in its fourth season in the 24-team league (2022-2025). The men’s soccer team competes in the Eastern Conference of USL Championship.
DCFC previously competed as a a pre-professional/amateur soccer team in NPSL (National Premier Soccer League) from 2012-19 and then professionally in NISA (National Independent Soccer Association) for 2020-21.
DCFC also has an amateur women’s soccer team which competes in the USL W League and that team reached the league’s national Final Four in 2024. That team will also play home games inside the new facility.
DCFC also has several branches for its youth club soccer system – Detroit Youth, South Oakland, Downriver, North, West, Genesee, Huron Valley, Saginaw-Bay City-Midland – but it is not known if any of those club teams or branches will ever play games inside the new soccer stadium.
This project is one of two soccer-specific stadiums to be built in Michigan. It was announced in November of 2024 that a stadium was to be built near downtown Grand Rapids. That site was cleared and construction of Amway Stadium, an 8,500-plus-seat stadium, began in April of this year. An unnamed independent MLS NEXT II pro men’s soccer team will play inside the stadium, along with some youth soccer teams while the stadium will also serve as a multi-purpose facility capable of hosting concerts and community events. That facility will be owned and operated by the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention-Arena Authority.
IDAHO SOCCER: New stadium under construction at Expo Idaho near Boise, set to host USL pro teams in 2026: https://www.nationalsoccernetwork.com/post/idaho-soccer-new-stadium-under-construction-at-expo-idaho-near-boise-set-to-host-usl-pro-teams-in
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