Officials behind Feyenoord City, the major development project for Rotterdam that will include a new stadium for Eredivisie football club Feyenoord, have submitted the masterplan for the scheme to the city council.
The masterplan contains the complete vision for the radical overhaul of land in the southern part of the Dutch city, which received the green light from the municipal council in May 2017 with certain conditions attached.
The presentation of the masterplan comes after the final design for the new stadium was presented last month, complete with a few alterations. Most noticeably, the changes included bringing the stadium’s stands closer to the pitch.
The Feyenoord City Masterplan, which is a developed version of a concept initially presented in November 2016, has eight interrelated subareas that will be developed in four phases in the coming years. They are: Stadskant, Waterfront, Mallegatpark, Het Nieuwe Stadion, de Strip, De Kuip/Kuip Park, De Veranda and Getijdenpark. The new stadium and its immediate surrounding areas are expected to be the first sections of the project to be developed.
The Masterplan covers an area of almost 600,000 square metres, with the most important change from the draft plan being the addition of 3,700 extra homes. This is in line with Rotterdam’s ambition to develop more housing for certain target groups and thereby facilitate the growth of the city.
With the new stadium to be located partly in the Nieuwe Maas, the banks of the River Meuse will be activated through new routes along the river in an effort to transform the local area into one where residents can enjoy the water, greenery and views over the city. The Masterplan also includes a possible cross-river connection, as a result of which Feyenoord City will connect the south and north banks in the future.
Development under the Feyenoord City vision is expected to cost €1bn (£864.7m/$1.11bn), excluding the stadium. In terms of the timeline for the stadium, the plans are set to be publicly presented in December, with the goal of construction commencing after securing the necessary permits in April 2021.
The stadium is expected to be ready in June 2024, however funding has yet to be agreed and the city is said to have its doubts over the business plan. Speaking yesterday, Rob de Jong, director of the Foundation for Regional Development on the Maas, said he is not “assuming” financing plans will not collapse, adding there is no alternative plan if this happens.
He added, according to the Rijnmond.nl website: “We have agreed with the municipality that if the stadium does not prove to be feasible, we will again make a plan… to see what is possible at the location of the envisaged stadium.”
In June, charitable organisation Stichting De Verre Bergen made a €24.5m donation to Stadion Feijenoord, the body behind the delivery of a new stadium for Feyenoord, in an innovative deal that will guarantee 3,884 free tickets for local children to every home game played by the club.
In April, the De Nieuwe Ploeg consortium was added to the team that is responsible for the delivery of the new stadium. The announcement came after stakeholders behind the project in March revealed a one-year delay for the delivery of the venue, stating there were too many risks in sticking to the original timetable. Officials had targeted start of construction in mid-2020 for an opening in the summer of 2023.
A new business plan for the project was revealed in February which included a number of changes to the original vision. In December, Feyenoord was given the green light to continue with efforts to develop the largest football stadium in the Netherlands after the project had stalled in recent months.
It was reported in November that local authorities were concerned over major delays for the 63,000-seat project, which has been costed at €444m.
Images: OMA
