MCFC approach architect over development plans

Manchester City FC is set to appoint architect Rafael Viñoly to design a £1bn sports and leisure complex at the City of Manchester stadium.

According to national press, the owners of the club have approached Uruguay-born Viñoly to mastermind a 200-acre development that will transform east Manchester.

The site is expected to include a £5m training complex, as well as leisure centres, restaurants and a hotel.

In March, the Premier League club, New East Manchester and Manchester City Council signed a formal agreement to collaborate together and aim at creating a transformation plan for east Manchester, focussed on the area around the City of Manchester stadium.

Viñoly, who lives in America and has company offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Cleveland, as well as London and Abu Dhabi, is believed to have worked with Man City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mulbarak on the Mina Zayed waterfront project in Abu Dhabi.

No one was immediately available for comment at Manchester City FC when contacted by Place.