Boston: Mayor Michelle Wu Announces Community Benefits Agreement with the Kraft Group for Everett Stadium

Mayor Michelle Wu today announced that the City of Boston and the Kraft Group have agreed on financial and operational terms of a community benefits package totaling nearly $48 million over the next 15 years and additional commitments around project design review, local hiring, and regional transportation coordination. In addition to annual payments, the Kraft Group will make substantial infrastructure improvements in Sullivan Square in Charlestown prior to the stadium's opening and fund all public safety and transportation management costs for stadium events. This agreement comes after months of negotiations throughout 2025, in which Mayor Wu pursued a project mitigation package that would appropriately address the stadium's impacts on Boston. This final agreement — $13 million in direct payments and a new, permanent per-ticket revenue source for the City, which is expected to total $34 million in the first 15 years — follows the Kraft Group's initial offer of $750,000 in a one time payment for mitigation funds for the City. The deal was reached pursuant to provisions of the Mass Leads Act, the state's 2024 economic development bill, which required the Kraft Group to secure a community benefits agreement with Boston and Everett in order for the stadium project to move forward.

"The City fought for a fair deal for Boston and our residents, and that is what we have achieved through this agreement," said Mayor Michelle Wu. "After months of negotiations, we have secured commitments addressing the needs of Charlestown residents and feedback from community partners. This stadium will enhance Boston's position as the sports and entertainment capital of New England while transforming a blighted site on our doorstep. I'm grateful to all our neighborhood leaders and community advocates who helped us reach this important step, and the legislative leaders who ensured Boston would be at the table. We will continue to engage with the project as it advances to the next stage of review."

To support the Charlestown neighborhood, which will be most impacted by the stadium, the Kraft Group will make an initial payment of $3 million over six years which will be directed to the Charlestown Community Impact Fund. The Fund was created in 2016 to distribute annual community mitigation funds from the Encore casino and annually supports a range of Charlestown organizations. The City also announced that of future annual ticket revenues, anticipated to be $2 million per year, at least half will be directed to Charlestown-specific municipal projects.

The City and the Kraft Group also agreed to a set of terms to ensure the stadium will be a good neighbor to Boston. These include a commitment to establish an annual Traffic and Parking Management Plan to be approved by the City of Boston; a construction management plan executed with the City of Boston to reduce impacts on Charlestown during stadium construction; annual monitoring of traffic impacts; the creation of a ferry service dock at the stadium for water transportation; the construction of the stadium at 2070 flood resilience standards; prioritization of stadium design features in compliance with zero net carbon operational goals; noise and light pollution mitigation requirements; prioritized hiring for Boston residents for stadium jobs; a commitment to solicit 25% of both construction and ongoing contracts from local minority, woman owned, and/or veteran owned companies; and an agreement for the Kraft Group to participate in regional working groups to address regional transportation concerns.

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"I want to thank Mayor Wu and her team for their tireless efforts in getting the best possible deal for Charlestown on this transformative project," said State Representative Dan Ryan. "There is still a long way to go in this process but the community agreement between the City of Boston and the New England Revolution is a good first step in ensuring that the infrastructure needs of this part of the region are addressed and that Charlestown benefits from this transformation."

"The language we passed into law to move this project forward made clear that the communities most affected by this project should have a voice in how is development moves forward, and I want to thank Mayor Wu for all her work to ensure that Charlestown's needs have been addressed in this agreement," said State Senator Sal DiDomenico. "I am happy to see the Revolution soccer stadium reach this critical step to making this transformational project a reality. This agreement between Boston and the Kraft Group is another piece of the process that will result in an economic and environmental win for our communities."

"Charlestown has been clear that a project of this scale must come with real mitigation," said City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata. "After months of negotiations, the City secured nearly $50 million in payments over 15 years, up from an initial $750,000 proposal, along with funding for public safety, traffic management, and major infrastructure improvements in Sullivan Square and surrounding corridors. These investments will deliver necessary improvements for Charlestown residents before the stadium opens and make clear that major developments in Boston must deliver meaningful benefits to the neighborhoods they impact. Thank you to Mayor Wu, our state delegation, and residents who advocated for what our one-square-mile deserves."

"The strength of our cities are the people we serve and how they continue to work and live while our communities expand with economic development," said Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe. "We  are grateful to Mayor Wu and her team for recognizing the regional mayor's coalition and leading this effort to make sure all can benefit from increased access to public transportation and regional multi-modal transit improvements - it's a good deal for business and much needed investment for our residents."

The agreement incorporates financial guarantees, transportation and public safety requirements, design and climate resilience standards, and community benefits before and during construction as well as while the stadium is operational:

Financial Details:

• Upfront Community Payments: Upon completion of the MEPA permitting process, the Kraft Group will make an immediate $1.5 million community impact payment, followed by $300,000 annually for 5 years (totaling $3 million in upfront impact funds).
• Infrastructure Improvements: The Kraft Group will perform at least $5 million in safety and access improvements to roadways, sidewalks, bike paths, intersections and transit facilities in Sullivan Square, Main Street, and along Route 99 before opening day.
• $5 million Transportation Fund: The Kraft Group will pay $333,000 annually for 15 years to the City of Boston for ongoing transportation infrastructure improvements in Charlestown.
• Ticket Surcharges: To address ongoing community impacts, $1.00 per soccer ticket (increasing with CPI) and 1.5% of every concert ticket sold will be paid to the City in perpetuity, which the parties estimate will generate $2 million in the first year of operation, and approximately $34 million over the first 15 years.

Transportation & Public Safety

• Traffic Management: An annual Traffic and Parking Management Plan (TPMP) must be approved by the City, with a primary goal of preventing stadium-related traffic from cutting through Sullivan Square.
• Operational Costs: The Kraft Group will reimburse the City for all event-day costs, including the deployment of approximately 38 Boston Police Officers per event.
• Ongoing Transit: The Kraft Group will install a water ferry dock, fund annual traffic data monitoring, and sponsor a Bluebikes valet service on event days.

Design & Climate Resilience

• Neighborhood Mitigation: Designs will include shielding to prevent field lights from shining into Charlestown and acoustic engineering to ensure noise levels remain below the 70-decibel limit set by the Boston Noise Ordinance.  The Stadium will also monitor noise levels during events, operate a hotline for complaints, and perform ongoing mitigation to comply with the noise ordinance limit.  
• Coastal Flooding: The stadium will be built to 2070 flood resilience standards, effectively closing the current flood path between Route 99 and the site.
• Sustainability: The project includes a comprehensive stormwater plan, waste reduction strategies, and a commitment to analyze feasibility for net-zero carbon operations.

Operations & Community Benefits

• Event Levels: The stadium anticipates holding 17–20 soccer matches and up to 20 concerts per year. Any increase would be discussed with the City.
• Local Sourcing Goals: 25% of construction and ongoing operational contracts targeted for local MWBE/Veteran-owned businesses.
• Local Hiring Goals: 25% of permanent stadium jobs targeted for Boston residents via preferential hiring.
• Supplier and Workforce Advisory Group: the Kraft Group and the City of Boston will convene an advisory group to assist with achieving the targets established above.
• Community Access: The City of Boston may use the stadium for community events four times per year. The Revolution will also host at least six free youth soccer clinics annually in Boston.

Other Commitments

• Construction Management Plan: The Kraft Group will execute a comprehensive construction management plan with the City of Boston to reduce local impacts during stadium construction.
• Stadium Plan Review: The Kraft Group will submit stadium plans for the review to the staff of the Boston Planning Department to ensure compliance with this agreement
• Regional Coordination: The Kraft Group and Boston commit to participating in regional working groups to address regional transportation impacts and promote investment in multi-modal public transit improvements

Underscoring the importance of Charlestown residents' feedback, the City of Boston engaged with community members to understand their concerns. From December 2024 through February 2025 the City received input from Charlestown neighborhood leaders and stakeholders representing climate and transportation advocacy groups in preparation for negotiations. Additionally, on March 11, 2025, Mayor Wu, along with City officials from the Boston Transportation Department, the Planning Department, and Office of Neighborhood Services, attended a community meeting on the proposed stadium hosted by the Charlestown Neighborhood Council to hear directly what the group hoped to see the City negotiate for on behalf of the neighborhood.

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Since August, the City and New England Revolution negotiating teams have had the support of former MassPort CEO Tom Glynn and Rebecca Kaiser, who served as the designated mediators.

"I want to thank the dedicated negotiating teams from the City, the New England Revolution, and our mediators, Tom Glynn and Rebecca Kaiser, who all worked through the holidays to achieve a fair deal for the people of Boston," said Mayor Wu.

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