Global investors have confirmed they ARE looking to build a major new entertainment arena next door to the Etihad - and are planning to start consulting residents on the idea this week.

International live events group Oak View Group say Eastlands is their ‘preferred’ location for a huge live venue and are working with Manchester City FC to draw up the proposal.

That work - including a consultation with people living in the area - could result in a planning application coming forward early next year, although the timescale remains unclear.

The M.E.N. has reported previously on the potential for a new entertainment arena next to City’s ground, an idea that last month was added into the council’s masterplan for the area as a future possibility.

City centre businesses, particularly Manchester Arena but also the Arndale, Printworks and the Corn Exchange, all immediately expressed alarm at the idea - warning it could take footfall away from existing attractions, hotels and restaurants.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Nevertheless until now, the investors that had approached Manchester council, Oak View, had remained silent on any plans they might have.

Today they confirmed a new arena in Eastlands was indeed their intention - subject to various feasibility work and consultations.

Tim Leiweke, co-founder and chief executive of Oak View Group, said: "Manchester is an amazing city with a proud music and sporting history, and one that we believe would see substantial benefits from a new arena.

"East Manchester, in particular, has a strong track record in entertainment and hosting major events.

"Over the last two decades, Manchester has consistently ranked in the top five global cities for arena events. A new world-class arena would create thousands of skilled jobs, apprenticeship and training programmes, and generate significant additional revenue for businesses in the city.

"Understanding the priorities of the community will be a critical part of any proposal, and we are delighted to be working closely with City football group as we begin this initial phase of consultation."

The firm stressed no public funding would be used to build the venue, although it declined to put a figure on the potential level of private investment required.

(Image: Joel Goodman)

We first reported in December last year how an investor had approached Manchester council with a view to building a new arena.

At that stage no public plans had been drawn up, but in the spring a refreshed draft of the town hall's masterplan for Eastlands was updated to include the potential for a new entertainment venue on a similar scale to Manchester Arena.

The existing arena’s operators SMG then responded with fury - warning the city could not sustain two such venues.

SMG's European vice president John Sharkey said only one of them would be able to survive, accusing the council of 'opportunism' and 'hubris'.

The firm then paid for leaflets to be circulated in neighbourhoods around Eastlands, warning residents of the effect such a move would have on the area and suggesting the council itself would be investing in the project. In turn Manchester town hall itself responded with fury - accusing SMG of 'spreading lies' and using ‘dark arts’ to mislead people.

Nonetheless hundreds of residents objected to the idea, particularly on grounds of traffic.

(Image: GLPDUnknown)

Major attractions including the Printworks, the Arndale and the Corn Exchange also argued the move would damage footfall in the city centre.

However council bosses insisted the arena's inclusion in their document did not mean that it would happen, arguing any potential impact on residents and other businesses would have to form the basis of any future planning application.

They approved that latest masterplan for the area in July. Today's announcement from Oak View comes just three weeks later, with speed that is likely to spark further fury from both SMG and the operators of other city centre attractions.

Oak View was founded in 2015 in the United States by entertainment executives Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff.

It already has major arena projects in Seattle, New York, Texas and California, but this would be its first major foray into Europe.

The M.E.N. understands the consultation planned by Oak View is likely to last for several months, until early December, taking in people living in council wards around the Etihad and also city centre businesses, as well as analysis into its broader economic impact.

Subject to that work, a planning application could potentially come forward early next year.