Image courtesy of Stantec

Developers unveiled their plans for a $30 million revamp of Roxbury’s 10,000-seat White Stadium as the new home of Boston’s new professional women’s soccer franchise.

Boston Unity Soccer Partners, led by developer Bill Keravuori, proposes updating the 74-year-old stadium in Franklin Park with a new 5,000-seat bowl replacing the bleachers area.

In September, the National Women’s Soccer League designated Boston as the location of a new franchise scheduled to begin play in 2026. Boston Unity Soccer Partners is led by managing partner Jennifer Epstein, who is married to Keravuori and also is a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.

The Boston Unity ownership group is made up of 95 percent women investors, and a 40 percent investors of color, according to the NWSL. The group paid $53 million for the franchise rights, according to a Boston Globe report.

The White Stadium project contains three major elements, according to documents submitted to the Boston Planning & Development Agency this week:

• Replacement of the bleacher seats with 5,000 bucket seats in a weather-protected west grandstand that retains the Art Deco architecture of the original structure while replacing the foundation, which does not meet seismic building codes;
• Construction of a new 14,000-square-foot concession area known as “The Grove” including a restaurant and beer garden, team shop, restrooms, water fountains and storage space;
• Site improvements including new lighting, driveways and walkways.

The city of Boston will be responsible for renovations to the east grandstand, which has been unusable for years after sustaining fire damage, and other portions of the stadium, through a public-private partnership.

Plans for the professional soccer team’s use of the stadium have prompted complaints from some residents about new restrictions on public schools students’ access to the playing field. The soccer league plays a 26-game regular season schedule in 2024, equally divided between home and away matches.

In a project notification form, developers said the project will improve Boston Public Schools’ ability to use the stadium while upgrading the quality of the venue.

Keravouri is a former executive at The Abbey Group and led a group of investors that acquired the Widett Circle food wholesalers hub in 2020 following the demise of Boston’s 2024 Olympics bid and planned a large mixed-use development. The MBTA acquired the Foodmart Road parcels in April for a future rail layover yard.