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Major League Soccer is closing in on a final deal with state and city officials for a $300 million, 25,000-seat, state-of-the-art soccer-stadium complex in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, The Post has learned.
The proposed facility, construction of which could begin early next year, would be home to a yet-to-be-named new franchise.
The stadium would be located next to the Mets’ Citi Field and the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium, and would include nine high-quality soccer fields available for community and minor-league use, sources said.
While Major League Soccer had made its interest in Flushing Meadows known before, insiders say talks on the project have advanced considerably and are close to being wrapped up.
The stadium’s cost would be fully funded by the MLS ownership group, the project’s sponsor, but state, city and Metropolitan Transportation Authority approvals would be needed because parklands are involved, it was learned.
Under an arrangement now being discussed, the city, which owns Flushing Meadows Park, would give up about nine acres for the project, but would receive an equivalent amount of land from the state for parkland use.
The ownership group had considered constructing a stadium at Pier 40 on the West Side of Manhattan but decided the area of the Flushing Meadows sports complex made more sense, one source said.
“Flushing Meadows is centrally located, can easily be reached from Long Island, and Queens has large ethnic populations that really love the sport of soccer,’’ said the source.
Construction of the stadium could begin early next year. But legislation permitting the parkland swap is required.
A state official who has met with representatives of the MLS ownership group said the legislation could be taken up in late November, when a special session of the Legislature is expected.
“I definitely think this could happen in 2013 and it will generate construction jobs, permanent jobs and sales-tax revenues for the city and the state,’’ said an excited state official.
“This would be a big boon to the state and the city, and, of course, it would be very exciting for the different ethnic groups in the city that love the sport of soccer. It would provide a great recreational opportunity,’’ the official continued.
Two meetings on the proposal were held within the last few weeks with aides to Gov. Cuomo, including his secretary, Larry Schwartz.
Other meetings have been held with the Queens delegation to the Legislature, MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota and city officials.
Major League Soccer is the top-tier league of North American soccer and currently boasts 19 teams, including three in Canada.
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Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) is trying to convince the union-backed Working Families Party to back off a planned effort to defeat influential Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt of Rochester in next month’s Democratic primary.
“Shelly has intervened on Gantt’s behalf, and the WFP is reconsidering as a result,’’ an Assembly source told The Post.
Gantt, a veteran lawmaker with a prickly personality, has been involved in several long-running local political feuds.