Cardiff Council reveals preferred location for new £110m indoor arena

Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff has been selected as the preferred site for a new 15,000-seat indoor arena.

The planned £110m venue – which would be capable of hosting sports, cultural, and entertainment events – is now set to be built across two sites in Atlantic Wharf close to the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay.

Cardiff Council, which is driving the project, has identified a large indoor venue as “the biggest missing piece in the city’s infrastructure offer”.

A detailed feasibility study is now being planned, which will consider all the options for the Atlantic Wharf site – including the wholesale redevelopment of the entire 30-acre site to ensure the development can generate the “maximum private sector funding contribution” to the scheme.

Cardiff Council's Cabinet will discuss the Arena plans at a meeting later today (Thursday 15 February).

Cabinet member for investment and development, Cllr Russell Goodway said the indoor arena is a key priority for the new county administration and a major focus of its policy document Capital Ambition – a five-year plan for the city, outlining the authority’s vision for Cardiff to become a “leading city on the world stage”.

"Cities are where the future is being built,” Goodway said. “Cities are the economic dynamos where more than 80 per cent of global GDP is generated and they compete with one another for inward investment and jobs.

“If Cardiff wants to compete with other major cities then, to succeed, it needs the necessary infrastructure to secure our future and a multi-purpose indoor arena will be one of the key components of Cardiff's future economic success.”

The arena plans have widespread support in Wales. Last year, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates said: "Having a multi-purpose arena in Cardiff is crucially important not only to Cardiff but for Wales.”

The architect of the proposed scheme and not yet been revealed.