Detroit: a stadium project to provide the city with an MLS franchise

Steve Apostolopoulos, co-founder of the real estate company Triple Properties Inc., wants to construct a vast urban complex in the U.S. city of Detroit (Michigan), including office building, parking lots and a new football stadium, it was announced on the 24/07/2013. The cost is estimated at €750m. No planned delivery date for this urban renovation has been specified.

The construction of the 25,000-seater stadium would aim to host an MLS (Major League Soccer) franchise. Apostolopoulos says that the project won't need public funding to get off the ground. There are already 20 soccer franchises under contract with the league (since New York City FC was added to this list on the 21/05/2013), but the city of Detroit does not have a team.

Apostolopoulos has owned the Silverdome (capacity: 80,000) in Detroit since 2009. He bought the abandoned stadium for €440k and held talks with MLS officials about starting a new franchise, but they decided that they didn't want a team playing in this stadium.

• Detroit is going through a major financial crisis. The city was declared bankrupt on the…