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\n Photo: Johan Persson\/ABBA Voyage\n <\/p>\n
The ABBAtars are coming to New York City. Crain\u2019s reported<\/a> this week that Gary Barnett and his ever-busy Extell Development filed paperwork to demolish half a block on 11th Avenue and West 45th in Hell\u2019s Kitchen to make way for ABBA Voyage, a holograph-forward concert designed by \u2026 ABBA. The show, which first opened in London in 2022, has a fairly devoted following and\u00a0the developers behind the project (Extell is joined by Bluestone Group on this ABBA Voyage) are anticipating crowds. The planned arena, per Crain\u2019s and the local news site W42ST, will be 175,000 square feet and have a capacity of 3,000.<\/p>\n The four members of ABBA \u2014\u00a0who are, yes, still alive and in their 70s \u2014 apparently spent years developing<\/a> their holograms along with a team of producers to craft the 100-minute performance. This included five weeks of filming Agnetha, Bj\u00f6rn, Benny, and Anni-Frid in motion-capture suits and the work of 140 animators from Industrial Light & Magic, the visual-effects firm behind a bunch of Marvel movies. Helpfully the event\u2019s FAQ page notes to concertgoers that while Abba is \u201cnot physically in the arena,\u201d the band has \u201ccreated the kind of concert they always wanted.\u201d (Holograms of themselves from almost 50 years ago.)<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, and why wouldn\u2019t you be, it looks like this:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n According to W42ST, the city\u2019s Industrial Development Agency approved<\/a> a $50 million tax break to help Extell and Bluestone build out the arena. The developers claimed that the tax benefits were necessary for them to \u201crecruit a European-based tenant to New York City, instead of Las Vegas.\u201d Their proposal outlined a $500 million budget with a planned opening in 2028.<\/p>\n Plus now that Mamma Mia! is no longer running on Broadway, the ABBA fanatics will need a place to go. And they\u2019re ready: \u201cMy prayers have finally been answered after all these years,\u201d one of the devoted wrote<\/a> on Reddit. \u201cThis will be my new home.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter<\/p>\n A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n