Rotterdam agrees to revised Feyenoord City plans with up to 9,500 new homes

The Rotterdam City Council has agreed to a revised plan for Feyenoord City, which includes large-scale housing construction and renovation of the infrastructure in Rotterdam Zuid near De Kuip, the football stadium home to top flight club Feyenoord. Between 7,000 and 9,500 new homes will be built, and a new train station, a bridge over the new Maas River, other infrastructure, green spaces, and public facilities will be added.

The first masterplan for Feyenoord City from 2017 was halted in 2022 when it turned out that the football club did not want a new stadium near the Maas River because the costs would rise to up to half a billion. The new stadium was the core of the project's plans. The Council of State annulled the municipality's amended zoning plan in 2022 that excluded the stadium, meaning a new plan had to be drawn up.

It is clear that a lot of construction activities will take place near De Kuip in the next decade and a half. However, what is actually going to happen regarding the stadium itself is less clear. A city monument, the structure's facilities no longer meet modern requirements and needs, and it needs refurbishment.

Stadion Feijenoord NV, which rents out De Kuip to the football club, recognizes the necessity but does not have enough money for the refurbishments that are needed. Director Dennis te Kloese has said on several occasions that the Feyenoord football club would like to become the stadium owner to maximize the profits from De Kuip.

However, Stadion Feijenoord NV has a debt of around 15 million euros it owes to American bank Goldman Sachs. This makes it unclear whether the club can organize the plan in the short term.

It recently emerged that the stadium has made an agreement with the municipality about further refraining from organizing concerts in De Kuip. The homes can then be built more cheaply because additional soundproofing facilities will not have to be installed.

Stadion Feijenoord NV could be compensated by the municipality by an amount of approximately 12 million euros. The Feyenoord football club was not informed of this plan, and indicated that it was not happy with this intention.