Atlanta United unveils $25 million expansion of training ground
Atlanta United unveiled the $25 million expansion of its training headquarters Tuesday in Marietta, and team owner Arthur Blank made a bold promise to the partners that made the addition happen.
“We will bring back a championship to Atlanta for you,” he told representatives of Emory Healthcare, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the city of Marietta. “We promise you that, and we’re as serious about that as we can be.”
Described as among the best training facilities in all of pro or college sports in North America by two different employees of Atlanta United, the expansion brings the financial commitment for the building to $90 million and almost doubles the capacity to 50,000 square feet. The work began in June 2024. Some small parts aren’t yet complete but are scheduled to be finished by January 2026. The original budget was $23 million. Contingencies increased the final price to $25 million. The expansion was led by Impact Development Management. Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio served as the architectural and interior design firm.
The addition is impressive.
Among the spaces on the first floor is a state-of-the-art studio, dubbed “Studio 17″ and carrying the name of Emory Healthcare, a photo studio and a media workroom. The size of the large studio is comparable with “SportsCenter” at ESPN. Together, the two studios take up about one-fifth of the 20,000-square-foot expansion.
On the first floor’s other side are a gym dedicated for use by Atlanta United 2 and the academy players, and player-development offices.
On the second floor are work spaces for an average of 125 employees, a podcast studio, a conference room, and a multimillion dollar control room that manages all of the new studio space.
Inspiration for the purposes of the rooms were derived from visits to various clubs in MLS such as Austin, Seattle and Charlotte, and to clubs around the world, including Borussia Dortmund.
“This training facility ranks probably No. 1 across the country, across sports, in the North American Sports ecosystem,” Atlanta United Chief Business Officer Sarah Kate Noftsinger said. “And the ‘why’ is the fan-first approach, the details that went into it, and the fact that it leans into every end of the spectrum, from player development and education to the far end of the spectrum, which is the first team and the resources that they have. And so it is absolutely tremendous.”
The addition gives the first team more room in the original part of the building and ensures a safe space for all players by giving adults and younger players separate spaces.
It gives the academy players and Atlanta United 2 more room to for academic and professional development.
The space created by moving some things to the expansion will be turned into classrooms for the academy players and a high-altitude training room for recovery, among other things.
The training center pavilion, another original building, also was refurbished to improve locker rooms on the first floor and meeting spaces on the second floor.
The training center pavilion as well as the elements within the expansion of the training ground could serve as the base camp for national teams competing in next year’s World Cup. Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium are scheduled to host eight matches.
The history of the construction of the training ground goes back to when the club was going to build on a site in DeKalb County near the Kensington MARTA station. Costs related to excavation forced a new search that included sites in west Georgia and in metro Atlanta, including in Marietta, which was the final decision.
Construction was completed during the 2017 season. It included six fields, the main building and the pavilion building. Showing foresight, the construction included the land and some of the necessary infrastructure to expand the main building as the franchise grew.
Then-team president Darren Eales led that construction. When Garth Lagerwey was hired in November 2022 to succeed, one of his priorities was to expand the building. Lagerwey, who is recovering from cancer, didn’t attend Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The joke Tuesday when asked what’s next was that everyone wanted to make sure that all of the lights worked and no coffee was spilled on any of the new furnishings. The real story Tuesday was about the club and its ambitions to add another MLS Cup to the one won in its second season in 2018.
“First and foremost, it’s about our club, how we can help stay at the epicenter of soccer globally?” said Dimitrios Efstathiou, the club’s senior vice president of strategy. “How important is the studio as well, especially in helping, continuing to, continue to tell the story of Atlanta?”
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