Before it was the former headquarters of the oil company from which it gets its name, the Whale Building on the Sunset Park waterfront was a torpedo assembly factory. Starting this week, a whole new kind of torpedo is set to return there as the very first Socceroof kicks open its doors.
Socceroof is the city’s first indoor soccer-only facility, which meant many soccer clubs were previously “renting basketball courts in a gym,” General Manager Jonathan Lupinelli told Metro during a tour last week.
Now, soccer players of all ages can have round-the-clock access to the 10 fields at Socceroof, which are all named after Brooklyn neighborhoods and are 50 feet by 80 feet with the ability to combine into a larger field.
While the Whale Building is unique in and of itself, Socceroof’s 70,000-square-foot span on the third floor is a bit of a real estate unicorn.
“Finding a column-free space of this size in New York is super-hard,” Lupinelli said. “It took us a while to find the space.”
Add in the vision to also offer a rooftop space and a full-service bar, and it’s no wonder it took more than a year for Socceroof to have its official kick off in Sunset Park.
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Socceroof to kick its way across America
Socceroof may be unique to New York, but the concept “is huge in Europe,” Lupinelli explained. “There are probably 200 to 300 in France alone.”
Socceroof’s founder Jean David Tartour started the trend with Le Five in the early 2000s and quickly set his sights on soccer’s ever-growing popularity in America.
“This is the first of many,” Lupinelli promised. “We hope two years from now to have three to four in New York and then expand to rest of the United States and Canada.”
While it’s too soon to tell where the next Socceroof locations in New York will be, Lupinelli said there are “a few possibilities in Bushwick and Astoria.”
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5 fast facts about Socceroof
• Socceroof is located on the third floor of the Whale Building at 14-53rd St. in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
• It features 10 small 50’ x 80’ fields with flexibility to combine two or three fields
• Fields are synthetic grass materials
• Facility includes locker rooms, restrooms, a bar, café and outdoor deck
• Games start at $110
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