Marietta is officially going all in on professional women’s soccer. On Thursday night, the City Council signed off on an agreement that clears the way for a new training and headquarters complex for Atlanta’s National Women’s Soccer League expansion club. City officials are pitching the project as a catalyst for the Franklin Gateway corridor, which they say could help draw more than $100 million in private investment. The vote sets in motion a plan for AMB Sports and Entertainment, the Blank family group behind Atlanta United and the Falcons, to build the facility near Atlanta United’s existing training campus.
According to 11Alive, the council approved an agreement worth about $21 million that mixes cash payments with land swaps. The package would leave the city with roughly 10 acres reserved for park space and community use while shifting other parcels to the team’s developers.
Where the site would sit
The training complex centers on a vacant tract at 1033 Franklin Gateway that Marietta repurchased from IKEA in late 2025 as part of a long-running redevelopment strategy. As reported by AtlantaSoccer.News, the city bought roughly 33 to 34 acres along the corridor for about $18.5 million and has been weighing how to transfer or lease parts of that land to AMB Sports & Entertainment. City leaders say being next door to Atlanta United’s training campus makes Franklin Gateway a logical landing spot for the new NWSL facility.
Team backing and investment
The Atlanta expansion franchise was officially awarded in November 2025, and the club is slated to kick off play in 2028, Mercedes-Benz Stadium announced. SportsBusinessJournal reported that the expansion fee came in at a record $165 million and that owner Arthur M. Blank has committed funding to build a first-class training ground for the new club.
Facility plan and timeline
Per 11Alive, project plans call for a nearly 38,000-square-foot headquarters building, multiple outdoor fields and indoor training areas on the Franklin Gateway site. Officials told the outlet they expect construction to start soon, with the goal of having the complex open in time for the team’s 2028 debut.
What comes next
City leaders say the agreement is designed to help establish Marietta as a hub for both women’s and men’s professional soccer, while also bringing construction jobs, operations roles and expanded youth programming, AtlantaSoccer.News notes. The deal now moves into the permitting and site-plan review phase, where city officials and AMB will hammer out design details, access and how community use of the space will work before shovels hit the ground.
