The earliest noted development of the tract of land was in 1956, when the land was christened as a 23.5 acre chemical manufacturing plant. The manufacturing plant produced various chemicals for Reichhold Chemicals, generally peroxides, for the majority of its 29 years as a chemical plant. The facility was closed following a series of on-site safety incidents in December, 1985, which made it economically infeasible to operate.[4]
The land was annexed into the Austin city limits on July 19, 1973.[5]
Reichhold's parent company, DIC Corporation, sold the land to the City of Austin in 1995 for $1.4 million, with the city planning on using it as the Austin Water North Service Center. However, during construction of the facility in 2003, an explosion occurred, with workers finding illegally stored chemical waste on the site. Remediation was undertaken, stripping the site down to bedrock. The city sued DIC, and received $3.6 million.[6]
When Precourt Sports Ventures, operator of Columbus Crew SC, announced they were intending to move the team to Austin, city staff identified eight potential sites for a permanent stadium.[7] 10414 McKalla Place was identified as one of those eight sites, and following some public debate, became the prime candidate following the Austin City Council meeting on March 22, 2018.[8] After several sessions, the Austin City Council granted the City Manager the authority to negotiate and execute a lease with the 7–4 vote during a special session on August 15, 2018.[9] The city announced that the lease had been completed and signed on December 19, 2018.[10]
The 20-year lease of the site includes yearly rent of $550,000 beginning in year six, with an additional $3.6 million being given to Capital Metro for transit. The stadium would be fully financed and built with private money, though stadium ownership would be held by the city itself. The club has the ability to extend the lease up to three times, with each extension being ten years.[11]
Construction
Construction progress, July 2020
The approximately 20,500-seat stadium was expected to cost $260 million, with team operator Precourt Sports Ventures privately financing the construction.[12] Other elements for the 24-acre site and surroundings include green space, potential housing, and mixed-use retail.
In March 2019, Precourt Sports named Austin Commercial as the construction manager and Gensler as the lead architect for the stadium, and announced that groundbreaking will take place in September 2019.[2]
Re-zoning the site to stadium requirements passed Austin City Council unanimously on June 6, 2019.[13]
On August 19, 2019, a site plan for the Austin FC stadium in North Austin was approved by the city of Austin, Texas.[14]
In January 2021, Austin FC entered a naming rights partnership with Q2 Holdings, a local online banking provider, resulting in the stadium formally being named Q2 Stadium on January 25, 2021.[15][16]
Q2 Stadium sits alongside Capital Metro's Red Line commuter rail service. The closest existing station on the Red Line is Kramer station, about a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) walk from the stadium. Capital Metro's Project Connect transit plan, approved by voters in November 2020, adds a new station, McKalla Place, about 0.5-mile (0.80 km) south of the existing Kramer Station, directly adjacent to the stadium.[17] This would provide a much shorter and more direct walking route from rail services to the stadium without having to cross any roads. Kramer station is expected to be relocated about 0.6-mile (0.97 km) north to the Broadmoor campus and be renamed Broadmoor station.[17]
Bus connections to the stadium include MetroRapid route 803 and MetroBus routes 3, 383, 392, and 466.[18]
Events
The stadium opened on June 16, 2021, hosting an international women's friendly between the United States and Nigeria. Christen Press scored the first ever goal in the stadium.
Austin FC played their first ever match at the stadium on June 19, 2021, against the San Jose Earthquakes.[19] The match ended with a 0–0 draw in front of a sellout crowd of 20,738.[20] On July 1, 2021, Jon Gallagher scored the first ever competitive goal in Q2 Stadium history, during the 27th minute of Austin FC's 3rd ever regular MLS season home match versus Portland Timbers, eventually finishing as a 4–1 win to Austin FC.[21]
On July 4, 2022, Q2 Stadium held its first non-sporting event, when it hosted Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic and Firework show, an annual event that was started in 1972.[22]
On July 30, 2022, Q2 hosted its first non-soccer event, Premier Rugby Sevens, featuring a single day Rugby sevens tournament with the Experts, Loonies, Headliners, and Loggerheads.[23] PR7s returned to Q2 on June 17, 2023, for the Eastern Conference Kickoff.[24]
In December 2023, Q2 was selected to host 2 matches for the 2024 Copa América, an annual CONMEBOL soccer tournament. Copa América is the oldest national team soccer tournament in the world. Q2 was one of fourteen stadium selected in the United States and one of three soccer specific stadiums chosen to host matches.[25] Later that month, the 2024 Copa América draw revealed that the first game would feature Venezuela and Jamaica, and the second game would feature Paraguay and the winner of qualifying play-off match between Costa Rica and Honduras.[26]
