The new arena promises the ‘best live music experience in the UK’.
The new Co-op Live arena is currently underway, with plans to open as early as 2023. Confirming plans would officially be going ahead back in September, the arena promises to be the ‘biggest in the UK’ once completed, and now, Mancs can get a first look of what the arena will look like inside.
The venue is set to hold a capacity of 23,500, trumping Manchester’s AO (formerly MEN) Arena which has a capacity of 21,000 and currently holds the title as the largest in the country. There’ll also be a huge floor space with room for 10,000 to stand. Not only will the project be the biggest arena in the UK, but it’ll also be with most expensive in Europe, costing an eye-watering £350 million to build.
The plans reveal that the venue will host both music and sporting events, creating 3,500 jobs for locals during the construction period and 1,000 after. It’s also been confirmed that OVG (Oak View Group) will build on a site in the Eastlands area, right by the Etihad and the Ashton Canal. Harry Styles has been named as one of the venue’s investors, and the singer will be providing his expertise on how to create a ‘first-class experience’ for both artists and their fans.
The proposal for the new arena focused on a number of elements such as providing local employment, creating a fully flexible event space that can cater for different types of events such as concerts and sports matches, and delivering cutting-edge audio and visual technology for a world-class experience. Despite protests from local businesses – including the Manchester Arena, Arndale and the Manchester Hospitality Network – who were all concerned the new arena would drive footfall out of town, the plans are going full-steam ahead – with councillors approving of the idea.
OVG has huge ambitions for the arena, with the hopes of large scale events such as the Brit Awards being hosted at the arena and an estimated £1.5bn brought into the city’s economy over the next 20 years.
In addition to doubling the number of events in the city, the Co-op Live Arena has been designed to benefit both people and planet, and will be sustainably powered, climate conditioned and even have its own rainwater usage system.