SAN FRANCISCO—The Golden State Warriors (GSW) disclosed to the public on Tuesday, January 3 that construction on the Chase Center (which will be their new home venue) will commence on Tuesday, January 17 in San Francisco’s Mission Bay District. It is set to open for the 2019-2020 NBA season.

A ground-breaking ceremony, hosted by San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee is to be held at the future location of the 18,500 seat arena between Third and 16th Streets. City officials agreed to purchase the property in 2014, which was originally intended for a Salesforce office in Mission Bay.

Ceremony attendees will include Warriors President Rick Welts, Owner & CEO Joe Lacob, Co-Owner Peter Guber, Head Coach Steve Kerr and Forward Kevin Durant. It will reportedly be broadcasted live on CSN Bay Area.

Welts told reporters, “We have been looking forward to this day since we first had the vision of building a privately financed state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex in San Francisco are excited for what this will bring to the city of San Francisco and the entire Bay Area community,” Welts told reporters.

He continued, “Chase Center and the surrounding area will serve as a destination for the entire community and we will continue to work to make sure it is the best experience possible for everyone to enjoy NBA basketball, concerts, family shows, conventions and more.”

Mayor Lee, according to SF Gate, referred to the venue construction as a “legacy project.” It will occupy 11 acres of amenities which are not currently present in the waterfront area. These include eateries, offices, and public plazas. It will also grant attendees easy access to BART on a Muni Metro rail line. In addition, the venue will provide sidewalks and bike lanes and heighten the service of Caltrain.

Mayor Lee reported that the arena will “not only ensure our beloved Warriors remain in the Bay Area, but it will fill a void in San Francisco’s portfolio of arts and events facilities. It will provide enormous economic benefits, including thousands of new jobs and millions in new tax revenues for the city.”

Until late November, an organization at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) known as the Mission Bay Alliance (consisting of UCSF stakeholders, researchers, practitioners, and other faculty members) and the Sierra Club tried to discourage officials from constructing the arena at this location. Members of each organization addressed environmental concerns and insisted that the construction may cause traffic on the emergency route to the nearby medical center.

KTVU reported that a representative for the Warriors organization said that “technically those litigants have the right to appeal the California Court of Appeals decision to the State Supreme Court. However they said legal experts don’t think a challenge to the Supreme Court enjoys very good odds.”

Crawl SF released additional details as well as photos of the future venue.