Featured image credit: Valencia CF
Valencia CF has fired the starting gun on the resumption of work on one of the world’s most infamous stadium projects, stating its Nou Mestalla will now be delivered in the summer of 2027.
Final agreements were signed and construction work recommenced today (Friday) at an event attended by representatives of the three main parties involved in the development of what will be the new home of the Spanish LaLiga football club controlled by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim.
President of Valencia CF, Layhoon Chan; Mark Fenwick, co-founder of Fenwick Iribarren Architects; and José Antonio Madrazo, director of Spain, Portugal and the industrial division of FCC Construcción were all on hand. Construction work on the Nou Mestalla was originally suspended in February 2009 and while figures on what the stadium will eventually cost were not revealed, the club today laid out how it is targeting the 2027-28 season to finally move into its new home.
Today’s event came after Valencia CF announced earlier this week that it had appointed FCC Construcción to complete the construction of the Nou Mestalla. FCC and Grupo Bertolín were part of the original joint venture for the construction of the stadium, but the latter company will no longer be part of the project.
FCC oversaw the construction of Atlético de Madrid’s stadium, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. The company also worked on Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium and the redevelopment of Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
In June 2022, Valencia CF publicly presented revised plans for the Nou Mestalla, including capacity figures delivering a 70,000 capacity stadium, but initially limited to 49,000. The club said at the time it was hoping to restart construction work in October 2022, but conceded that the delivery date for the Nou Mestalla was likely to slip.
Through the plans set out today for a “trailblazing venue for sports, leisure and entertainment”, a seating capacity of 70,044 was set out – 21,512 seats in the lower tier, 16,721 in the middle tier and 31,811 in the upper tier.
Valencia CF said the Nou Mestalla will be a state-of-the-art stadium capable of hosting top-tier FIFA and UEFA matches, as well as major events. Centrally located in Valencia, it aims to provide year-round entertainment, featuring experiential restaurants, leisure activities, a megastore, a museum, and an auditorium. The stadium aims to be an innovative hub for fans on both matchdays and non-matchdays.
With over 6,500 hospitality seats, Valencia CF said the Nou Mestalla “presents a unique opportunity” for visitors, as well as for gastronomic, technological, and commercial partners.
To ensure that the Nou Mestalla becomes a benchmark for sports, leisure, and entertainment, Valencia CF said every euro invested will contribute to at least one of the following three strategic pillars: delivering a memorable visitor experience that promotes the Mediterranean lifestyle, providing hospitality and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) options, and embracing innovation and new technologies.
The new stadium is designed to reflect the club’s identity through its architecture and features. The project incorporates dynamic, wavy ribbons that twist and turn to create the facades, stair towers, and the podium supporting the building.
One of the standout elements of the new stadium will be its translucent roof. Valencia CF’s current Mestalla home only has one covered stand, but the club said the new venue’s roof will filter Mediterranean light while providing protection from the sun and rain for every seat. This roof will also enhance the acoustic experience from the stands to the pitch and will include a photovoltaic installation.
The roof design is the work of Schlaich Bergermann & Partner, which includes Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, and FNB Stadium in Johannesburg amongst its portfolio.
The stadium’s stands will prominently feature the club’s main colour, orange, with the bat symbol highlighted, similar to the current Mestalla.
The Nou Mestalla will expand the urban and public space of the city by 20,000 m². Additionally, there will be a municipal sports centre for the residents of the city’s Benicalap district, along with a 6,000 m² square next to Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas, which will serve as a gathering place for fans and citizens. This area will host fan zones and various activities.
Valencia CF said the project adheres to the latest environmental sustainability standards by carefully selecting materials and incorporating systems to conserve water and energy. The structural features of the roof are designed to significantly reduce the building’s carbon footprint due to low steel consumption, while also generating clean, green, and unlimited electricity for the facility’s daily operations.
In May last year Valencia CF claimed a breakthrough after an agreement was reached for the sale of land attached to the new stadium site, while it also engaged Legends to assist in enhancing the fan experience offering at the future venue.
In July, Valencia CF received the green light from the city council to resume work on the project, and the club had been hoping to restart construction work within six months, which has now been achieved with today’s announcement.
Valencia CF received a further boost for the project in November after completing a refinancing operation that paved the way for construction to recommence this month.
Valencia CF had been working on the execution of a long-term corporate facility of €121m (£100m/$125m) and a short-term bridging loan facility of €65m. The two transactions closed in November, with the club having repaid all of its existing corporate debts.
The new corporate debt facility of €121m has been raised in the capital markets, specifically in the United States Private Placement (USPP), made up of “prominent” professional investors. Goldman Sachs acted as the creditor in the €65m short-term bridge loan facility, which will be subsequently refinanced by the Nou Mestalla project financing.
The Nou Mestalla did not make the Spanish Football Federation’s list of 11 proposed stadiums for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Spain will co-host the World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay also set to stage “celebratory” matches during the tournament, which was formally awarded by FIFA last month.
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