By Alex Girda, Associate Editor, and Paul Rosta, Senior Editor<\/p>\n
After years of false starts, a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers is on the verge of becoming a reality. In the wake of key approvals by city officials and the project\u2019s sponsoring entity, contractors expect to start work this summer on the 68,500-seat venue in Santa Clara, some 45 miles south the team’s longtime home in Candlestick Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project reached a major milestone last month when the Santa Clara Stadium Authority signed off on the $1 billion project. The Santa Clara City Council approved an $878 million construction contract with a joint venture of Turner Construction Co. and Devcon Construction Inc. On March 5, a state superior court judge gave the project an additional boost by turning down a demand from stadium opponents to put the project\u2019s $850 million financing package to a public vote, the Reuters news service reported.<\/p>\n
A consortium that includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and U.S. Bankcorp is the project\u2019s primary lender and will provide $450 million to the Santa Clara Stadium Authority and $400 million to an affiliate of the 49ers, Reuters noted. The National Football League is lending the team another $200 million. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Officials reached agreement on another major\u00a0 issue\u00a0Feb. 28 when they signed off on a ground lease that will contribute an estimated $200 million to city coffers over 40 years, the San Jose Mercury News <\/em>\u00a0reported. The city will earn about $1 million in rental income annually for hosting pro football games, and that could double if the NFL\u2019s Raiders leave nearby Oakland for the new stadium. The remaining $155 million will come from Santa Clara\u2019s half-share of\u00a0revenue from concerts and other events.<\/p>\n The Turner-Devcon team expects to start construction in July and complete the project in time for the NFL’s 2014 season. According to the San Jose Mercury News<\/em>, the contractors will earn a $5 million bonus for finishing the stadium on time\u00a0and face a $6 million penalty for every game missed because of delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Alex Girda, Associate Editor, and Paul Rosta, Senior Editor
\nAfter years of false starts, a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers is on the verge of becoming a reality. In the wake of key approvals by city officials and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742,1609],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004052927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest","category-san-francisco"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n