49ers Stadium

Nearly a decade passed before another serious plan to build a stadium for the 49ers was developed. In July 2006, the team announced plans to build a 68,000 seat stadium at Candlestick Point for the 2012 season. This stadium would be built in an effort for the City of San Francisco to be awarded the 2016 Olympics. The 49ers worked with the Lennar Corporation and San Francisco officials to determine if Candlestick Point could support a new state-of-the-art NFL stadium and an adjacent major mixed-use development that would have played a key role in helping to privately finance the project. However, after careful deliberation, the team came to the conclusion that the project would not have offered the optimal game day experience it is seeking to create for fans, and has therefore decided not to move forward with the public approval process at Candlestick Point.

While Candlestick Point is visually appealing, its geographic boundaries made it challenging for this proposed project. Candlestick Point is surrounded by the San Francisco Bay on three sides, with a large hill near the area’s only highway that seals much of the land off from the rest of the City. The area also has limited and deteriorating road access that would have been overwhelmed by the stadium and the planned mixed-use development, which featured 6,500 new housing units. Engineers determined that hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements were required to accommodate the project, possibly exceeding the cost of the proposed $916 million stadium.

After plans fell through to build a stadium at Candlestick Park, 49ers owner, John York, shifted the team's focus to building a new stadium in Santa Clara where the 49ers offices and training facilities are located. On May 29, 2009 the 49ers reached an agreement with the City of Santa Clara to construction a $937 million stadium. Located 37 miles south of Candlestick Park, the stadium site is located on the overflow parking lot of Great American theme park. The stadium plan recreates the ambiance of York's alma mater, Notre Dame Stadium. Fans will enter the stadium through two large 18,000 square foot open concourses, on the northwest and southwest corners. Inside the primary design goal is to bring fans closer to the game. The stadium will have a seating capacity of 68,500 with 45,000 seats in the lower levels. On the west side of the stadium, an eight level tower will feature the pressbox, 170 luxury suites and 9,000 club seats. A 27,000 square foot living roof of plants that will cool the building through evaporation from plant leaves will be atop the eight level tower. Two HD videoboards will be located behind the stands in before endzones.

At a cost of $937 million, $825 million will be funded by the 49ers, the NFL and the Stadium Authority. The City of Santa Clara will contribute $79 million, none coming from taxes. The 49ers will pay for cost overruns. Construction is expected to begin in 2012, contingent upon an environmental review of the stadium site, and a timeframe for a public vote will be established to let the community decide if the project should move forward. In December 2009, Santa Clara City Council approved a measure to allow voters to decide upon the stadium deal on June 8, 2010. If constructed, the 49ers stadium would open in 2014.