NYCFC revives plan for soccer field near Yankee Stadium

Major League Soccer’s New York City team and the Yankees have revived plans for a 25,000-seat soccer stadium near the baseball park in the Bronx, seven years after a proposal fell through.

New York City’s Economic Development Corp. said Friday it is attempting to put together a deal that would include a soccer stadium built on the site of current parking lots along what was the first-base side of old Yankee Stadium. The old ballpark was torn down in 2009 and replaced by parkland to make up for park space used for the new Yankee Stadium, just to the north.

The project would include land currently occupied by a factory and a ramp to the Major Deegan Expressway.

Maddd Equities would partner in the project, which envisions a hotel, affordable housing, a school and retail. Bondholders of the parking lots, which have performed poorly, also are part of the deal, which would cut parking spaces from 9,300 to about 6,300.

The project, first reported by The New York Times, would be subject to the often long review process.

“A deal has not been reached and more conversations are needed,” the EDC said in a statement. “We are hopeful for a future where these lots can better serve the community. The first step towards achieving that is engaging the community on their needs and vision for this area.”

NYC is majority owned by City Football Group, a company controlled by of Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The Yankees are a 20% partner in NYCFC. City Football Group also is the parent of England’s Manchester City.

NYC has played at Yankee Stadium since taking the field as an expansion franchise in 2015, and many seats are far from the soccer field. One game in each of the past two seasons was moved to the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens because of baseball conflicts and four are scheduled to be played there this year. One game in 2016 was moved to Fordham’s Coffey Field and one in 2017 to Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.