Feyenoord stadium plans hit impasse

Feyenoord football stadium and consortium led by Bam have ended negotiations on a project to increase the capacity of the venue, also known as De Kuip (the Tub). The parting is due to disagreements on costs. According to Bam, Feyenoord had set a maximum budget of €206 million for the project, but Bam has budgeted for €215 million construction costs, excluding inflation.

The stadium currently has a capacity of some 51,100. Plans for the latest round of improvements included increasing the capacity to around 70,000 seats and adding a retractable roof. The proposed timeline was to begin work at the end of this year’s football season, with completion in 2018.

Plans for the redevelopment had been developed by the Feyenoord Founders Consortium (FFC), which comprises Bam, its buildings and real estate subsidiary AM, and Siemens.

A company statement said, “Bam would like to express its appreciation for the good cooperation with Feyenoord and especially for the constructive contributions from the municipality of Rotterdam and the supporters of Feyenoord. Bam will remain prepared to offer Feyenoord its experience gained with the (re)construction of stadiums around the world in a new route to carry out the (re)construction plans of Feyenoord.”

René Ierschot of Feyenoord’s project management team added, "I regret that we have to take this decision. We are going to consider the new situation. I express my thanks and appreciation especially for FFC but also to the City of Rotterdam and all others who have contributed to this plan. They have just as we made every effort to make this work. It did not work out. "

The discussions between Feyenoord and FFC were said to be “in the final stages” by the stadium owners. Feyenoord stadium is home to Dutch football team Feyenoord Rotterdam.