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Plans outlined for new 50,000-seat stadium in Mexico

The Mexican municipality of Tlalnepantla de Baz has presented plans for a mixed-use development that will be anchored by a 50,000-seat football stadium.

Located northwest of Mexico City, Tlalnepantla has signed off on a change of land use which will allow for development at the proposed site. The privately-financed $1bn (£746.5m/€840.1m) project is also proposed to include residential property, a shopping centre, public spaces and office development.

Liga MX football club Cruz Azul reportedly looked at the same site for a new stadium a year ago, but despite the latest project being dubbed ‘Punta Azul’, Raciel Pérez Cruz, Municipal President of Tlalnepantla, has denied the club is being lined up for the venue. “We are not announcing the new Cruz Azul stadium,” he said, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal.

Cruz Azul currently plays its home games at Estadio Azteca and is said to hold a contract at the historic Mexico City facility through to 2022. Central de Almacenaje Metropolitana SA de CV (MC-2) is the entity responsible for the development of Punta Azul. Its director general, Fernando Arista Nasr, left open the possibility that Cruz Azul could occupy the new stadium.

He said: “It is a struggle that began 20 years ago with the Cruz Azul Cooperative to build its stadium. The only ones who will decide are the owners, the partners, and they, in their next (general) assembly, will define the path… but, also, this project is open to the fact that, with this use of land and potential, any team or companies are open to invest.”

It will reportedly take up to a year before work can commence, with the project expected to take 36 months to complete.

Image: Tlalnepantla