RALEIGH – So how big is the proposed $1.9 billion soccer stadium and related development project in Downtown Raleigh from Steve Malik and John Kane? (The photo with this post from a 2017 proposal is indicative of what the new stadium would represent.) Here are some numbers to put it in perspective.

Rick Smith is editor and cofounder of WRAL TechWire

The proposed Apple campus that could still be built someday in Research Triangle Park was worth around $2 billion.

Amazon’s HQ2 project would have been worth around $5 billion. (Kane was among the bidders, by the way, offering a package of land in Raleigh.)

But since HQ2 ended up being split between Washington, D.C. and New York metro area (since scrapped) figure around $2 billion if the Triangle had been selected for a portion of it.

Either would have been among the largest – if not the biggest – projects ever for the city and Wake County.

Need more to scale this?

The value of the 20,000 seat stadium and surrounding development is worth twice as much as all the “active projects” being considered for Wake County, according to Wake County Economic Development.

Since last October, in fact, the 85 projects reviewed totaled $2.3 billion.

So as one former economic development official described the project in one word:

“Huge.”

Serial entrepreneur Malik, developer Kane plan $1.9B soccer/entertainment/housing project in Raleigh

What is not known at this point is how many jobs – construction and longer term – that will be created by a project that would reshape a good sized portion of Downtown Raleigh.

We’ll learn more about that and other details from Malik and Kane on Tuesday.

FYI, here are the latest figures from Wake County Economic Development:

Total projects received since Oct. 2018:  85

  • Potential Jobs  13,487
  • Potential Investments  $2.3 billion
  • Client Visits  27
  • Active Projects  57
  • Potential Jobs  10,818
  • Potential Investment  $961 million