The Falcons and Georgia World Congress Center will “soon send out a request for proposals to potential designers of a new football stadium,” according to Maria Saporta of the ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE. The proposed open-air football stadium would be “located north of the Falcons existing home -- the Georgia Dome.” Falcons President & CEO Rich McKay said, “Our hope is that it would be issued in the next 30 days.” The design concepts follow a master plan that was done by Populous in February. The report estimated that a new stadium “would cost about $700 million.” Having a conceptual design and a “more accurate cost estimate is critical in the ongoing negotiations between the Falcons and the GWCC to develop a business agreement for financing the new football stadium.” The Falcons are “committed to building a new outdoor stadium rather than remaining in the Georgia Dome.” But until a financial agreement is reached between the team and the state “on how to pay for a new stadium, the option to remain in a renovated Georgia Dome is still on the table -- which would be a far less expensive alternative.” Once the RFP is issued, the architectural firms “likely would have a couple of months to turn in their conceptual designs.” Then the Falcons and GWCC officials “would conduct a formal evaluation of their various proposals.” McKay said that they “likely would make a decision on the firm and the conceptual design by next spring.” McKay reiterated that the Falcons “would view the new stadium development as a public-private partnership” (ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE, 11/4 issue).
