Sisk widely expected to be named contractor for autumn start
Manchester city councillors have approved a major expansion of the Etihad stadium, with construction slated to begin in November.
Treble winners Manchester City want to increase the number of seats in the north stand by 7,900, taking overall capacity to 61,958.
The Etihad currently seats 54,000 after the expansion of its South Stand by Laing O鈥橰ourke in 2014 with the new extension designed by Populous making it the UK鈥檚 eighth largest stadium.
As well as a new upper tier for the north stand, the redevelopment will see a nine-storey, 391-bed hotel, with an attached restaurant, and the construction of a roof-walk attraction.
An existing club shop will be demolished and replace with an eight-storey building which will house the new club shop, the ticket office, a museum, an interactive visitor experience and 4,000 sq m of workspace for small businesses and startups.
A covered City Square fan zone, with a capacity of 3,000 and food and drink outlets, is also planned.
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According to a planning report, the 拢300m investment would 鈥渕ake the stadium and campus a year-round visitor destination complementing the facilities that are due to become operational at the COOP Live arena鈥�.
Sisk was listed in the report, along with Laing O鈥橰ourke, as having carried out one of two construction management plans for the scheme.
In June, City began the hunt for a new builder after failing to agree on a price for the job with Laing O鈥橰ourke.
Now widely considered the frontrunner, Sisk鈥檚 path was cleared earlier this month after Bam 鈥� the contractor on the City Football Academy and the nearby Co-op Live Arena 鈥� ruled itself out of the running.
The club has previously said it would award a construction contract in September.
According to the planning report, the operational phase of the build will create more than 600 full-time roles.
The North Stand expansion is expected to complete for the beginning of the 2025/26 football season, while the hotel, workspace and public realm works would complete in mid-2026.
While the scheme鈥檚 backers include local MP Lucy Powell, there were five objections to approval, which focused on the light and noise impact on nearby residents and on the alleged poor design quality of the hotel building, which objectors described as looking like 鈥渁 1960s polytechnic鈥� and 鈥渓ess inspiring than a Travelodge鈥�.
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