BOSTON — Following months of negotiations, the Kraft Group and the cities of Boston and Everett have reached community benefit agreements tied to the development of a professional soccer stadium on a former industrial site in Everett.
The agreement between the city of Boston and the Kraft Group totals $48 million over the next 15 years. The bulk of that funding, or about $34 million, is tied to ticket surcharges that will start at $1 per soccer ticket and 1.5% of every concert ticket sold, with the ticket revenues providing a city revenue source “in perpetuity.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office also said that in addition to annual payments, the Kraft Group will make “substantial infrastructure improvements” in Sullivan Square in Charlestown prior to the stadium’s opening and fund “all public safety and transportation management costs for stadium events.”
The parties faced a Dec. 31 deadline to reach agreements regarding the development of the stadium. The agreements must be filed with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs before the land parcel that would host the stadium is removed from its designated port area — a necessary step to develop the area.
Boston and the New England Revolution negotiating teams have been in talks since August with designated mediators, former Massachusetts Port Authority CEO Tom Glynn and Rebecca Kaiser.
Wu’s office said the Kraft Group’s initial offer was $750,000 in a one-time payment of mitigation funds.
“The City fought for a fair deal for Boston and our residents, and that is what we have achieved through this agreement,” Wu said. “After months of negotiations, we have secured commitments addressing the needs of Charlestown residents and feedback from community partners. This stadium will enhance Boston’s position as the sports and entertainment capital of New England while transforming a blighted site on our doorstep.”
The mayor’s office said the stadium anticipates holding 17 to 20 soccer matches and up to 20 concerts per year, and that any increases above those numbers “would be discussed with the city.”
Mitigation measures include designs to prevent field lights from shining into Charlestown and engineering to ensure noise levels remain below the 70-decibel limit set by Boston’s noise ordinance, according to Wu’s office.
The stadium will be built to 2070 flood resilience standards, Wu’s office said, “effectively closing the current flood path between Route 99 and the site.” A comprehensive stormwater plan, waste reduction strategies, and a commitment to analyze feasibility for net-zero carbon operations are also part of the accord.
The city said the Kraft Group will make a $1.5 million community impact payment once state environmental permitting process is complete, and an additional $300,000 annual payments for five years. The group will also make at least $5 million in safety and access improvements in Sullivan Square, Main Street and along Route 99, and pay $333,333 annually for 15 years to the city for transportation improvements in Charlestown.
The agreement marks “an important milestone in our effort to transform a long‑neglected industrial site along the Mystic River into a vibrant, publicly accessible waterfront destination and the future home of the New England Revolution,” the Kraft Group said.
“These agreements reflect years of collaboration with city leaders and community stakeholders to ensure the project delivers meaningful, lasting benefits for residents while addressing transportation, environmental, and municipal impacts,” the Kraft statement continued.
The Boston-Kraft agreement requires that an annual traffic and parking management plan be approved by the city, that the Kraft Group reimburse Boston for event-day costs, and that it will also install a water ferry dock, fund annual traffic data monitoring and sponsor Bluebikes valet service on event days.
Boston would also be able to use the stadium for “community events” four times a year, and the Revolution will host at least six free youth soccer clinics annually in the city.
Everett’s 20-year agreement includes an estimated $91.7 million in total community value, the city said. That amount is separate from an additional estimated $100 million from the Kraft Group exclusively meant for environmental cleanup and mitigation at the site.
Community payments to Everett under the agreement will be no less than 110% of any payments made to the City of Boston because the site is almost entirely in Everett, according to the city.
“This milestone brings the city one significant step closer to a transformative project including a 25,000-seat stadium and vibrant, publicly accessible waterfront park on the former Mystic Generating Station site,” the city said in a release.
Everett’s agreement includes a higher per-ticket surcharge than Boston’s, as the city is set to receive $2.25 for every ticket sold. Current projections suggest approximately 418,000 soccer tickets and 520,000 event tickets could be sold annually, according to the city.
The city added that the Kraft Group also committed to assisting the Everett Public Schools Foundation in raising at least $100,000 annually in donations. The stadium will also be made available for public school and youth athletic events, including Everett High School graduation, senior prom and homecoming.
To create expanded access to public transportation, $17.5 million will be dedicated to the construction of the headhouse at Assembly Row. If that construction, along with MassDOT’s Mystic River Pedestrian Bridge Project currently underway, don’t commence within three years of the stadium opening, the city said the funding obligation will sunset and Everett will receive $15 million directly.
Sen. Sal DiDomenico, a longtime proponent of the stadium project, thanked the cities and the Kraft Group “for coming together on agreements that address the needs of the communities and will have a lasting positive impact in both Everett and Charlestown.”
“I am happy to see the Revolution soccer stadium reach this critical step to making this transformational project a reality. These agreements are another part of the process that will result in economic and environmental wins for our residents,” the Everett Democrat said.
Charlestown Rep. Dan Ryan applauded the agreement.
“There is still a long way to go in this process but the community agreement between the City of Boston and the New England Revolution is a good first step in ensuring that the infrastructure needs of this part of the region are addressed and that Charlestown benefits from this transformation,” Ryan said.