GRAND RAPIDS, MI — After years of planning, a groundbreaking has been set for Amway Stadium, the 8,500-seat venue expected to host professional soccer matches and other events when it opens in spring 2027 in downtown Grand Rapids. Project supporters will gather Tuesday at the stadium’s 8-acre site — several parking lots adjacent to the David D. Hunting YMCA on Lake Michigan Drive NW — to celebrate the start of construction. The event marks a significant milestone for a project that supporters say will generate a big economic impact, energize the city with a new professional sport, and bolster the city’s profile as a destination for new residents and businesses. Here’s what to know about the project: Why soccer? The idea of bringing professional soccer to Grand Rapids was floated in a 2016 Destination Asset Study commissioned by Grand Action that offered a host of recommendations to bolster the city’s tourism and hospitality industry. Grand Action is a private economic development group co-chaired by Dick DeVos, Carol Van Andel and Fifth Third Bank Regional President Tom Welch. The group is serving as the developer of the stadium, which will be owned and operated by the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority. The 2016 study noted that Grand Rapids, because of its proximity to Detroit, would be unlikely to support a professional hockey, baseball, basketball or football team. However, the same was not true of soccer, the study noted. It pointed to the success of Grand Rapids FC, a minor league soccer team that played at Houseman Field and was drawing big crowds at the time. The club disbanded in 2021, noting financial challenges and setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Representatives of the USL (United Soccer League) have noted that Grand Rapids is an ideal market for a potential expansion for their league,” the study said. “In speaking with League representatives as well as local stakeholders, we believe the USL lends the greatest opportunity for Grand Rapids to further penetrate the professional sports market.” Grand Action relaunched While the idea of bringing soccer to Grand Rapids was floated in the 2016 Destination Asset Study, work to bring the idea from concept to reality took on a new emphasis after Grand Action was relaunched as Grand Action 2.0 in early 2020. The original Grand Action leaders — the late John Canepa, Dick DeVos and the late David Frey — announced they were retiring in September 2017 but said they would resurrect the group if it was needed to help spearhead future transformational projects. The group relaunched as Grand Action 2.0 in March 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Eventually, it set its sights on two projects: Acrisure Amphitheater, the 12,000-capacity venue at 201 Market Ave. SW, and Amway Stadium. A location is chosen Grand Action 2.0 had been eyeing the roughly 8-acre site near the downtown YMCA since at least summer September 2022, when renderings of the proposed stadium at the location were posted on social media. At the time, Grand Action said it was exploring the site as one potential location for the stadium. In December 2023, shortly before Grand Action 2.0 began meeting with community groups about the project, Grand Action confirmed it had narrowed its due diligence to the site near the downtown YMCA. The parking lots at the site are owned by the YMCA and the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority (DDA). They’re used for paid, public parking, and are serviced by the city’s free Downtown Area Shuttle. The city has said the lots are underused. In February, Grand Action 2.0 purchased the lots from the DDA for $8 million. That came after Dan and Pamella DeVos, whose family owns a minority stake in the team that will call Amway Stadium home, purchased the former Big Boy property at 407 Pearl St. NW that sits in the footprint of the stadium. The couple purchased the property for $3.2 million in July 2022, city property records show. Later, Dan and Pamella DeVos donated the property to the DDA in February 2024. Size of stadium? Who will play there? The stadium will have 8,500 seats, but it could be expanded to as many as 11,000 if the venue generates demand beyond its seating capacity. The name of the team that will call the stadium home hasn’t yet been announced, but the team will belong to the Major League Soccer NEXT Pro league. The league has 27-affiliated clubs, two independent clubs, and describes itself as a development league for professional men’s soccer in the U.S. and Canada. David Van Andel and his family will be the “primary” owner of the new team, with various roles held by his sons Jesse, Aaron, Kyle and Christian. Van Andel’s wife, Carol, is a co-chair of Grand Action 2.0. In addition, a “minority” ownership stake will be held by Dan DeVos and his family. DeVos’ son Cole will play a “key leadership role,” according to a news release. Dan DeVos is a brother of Dick DeVos, who’s a co-chair of Grand Action 2.0. While the 2016 Destination Asset Study recommended a USL team be developed in Grand Rapids, DeVos and Van Andel ultimately selected the MLS NEXT Pro league. In December, when asked about the decision to choose MLS over USL, they noted that MLS NEXT Pro league was launched in 2022, well after the Destination Asset Study was released in 2016. The Van Andel family owns a minority-stake in the MLS’s FC Cincinnati team. Meanwhile, the DeVos family are minority owners of the MLS’s Orlando City SC. How many games will be played at the new stadium? The unnamed team is expected to play 28 games per season, with half of them taking place at Amway Stadium. In addition to the soccer games, the stadium is expected to host 56 other events, which include youth and amateur sports, as well as cultural activities. ASM Global, the firm that operates and manages Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place and DeVos Performance Hall, will be tasked with booking the venue and finding those events. It’s expected to work with the West Michigan Sports Commission to bring youth and amateur sports to the venue. It’s also looking into the idea of hosting a holiday market, like the Downtown Market’s Christkindl Markt, at the stadium. How much will the stadium cost? Amway Stadium is expected to cost $175 million to build. That’s being paid for through a $33 million naming rights agreement with Amway, and a roughly $100 million bond borrowed by the city of Grand Rapids. That bond will be paid off using revenue from Kent County’s hotel tax. The hotel tax is charged to visitors who rent hotel rooms in Kent County. In August 2024, Kent County voters approved a request to increase the hotel tax from 5% to 8% to help fund the soccer stadium as well as other large-scale tourism and hospitality projects such as Acrisure Amphitheater and a potential John Ball Zoo aquarium. The hotel tax hike request was born out of discussions between Grand Action, the city of Grand Rapids and Kent County as a way to help fund the venues.