The planning board gave its final approval Wednesday for Red Bull Park soccer stadium, clearing the way for construction to begin on the 25,000-seat sports and entertainment venue.

Red Bull Park, the metropolitan area's first soccer-specific stadium, will be home to Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls, as well as a series of international soccer matches, and will host concerts and special events.

The developer of the $150 million complex, AEG New York, has been working since September on demolition and remediation of the site, which sits on the banks of the Passaic River opposite Newark's Ironbound neighborhood.

The work included the removal of foundations from a century-old, industrial complex.

The stadium is expected to be completed by mid-2008, near the latter half of the Red Bull's season, said Nick Sakiewitz. That means the team, and its fans, may have to wait until the 2009 season to enjoy the new digs.

"We are still deciding on how to handle it," Sakiewitz said today. "You just never know how construction is going to go."

Red Bull Park is the cornerstone to the $1 billion Harrison MetroCentre Development, the largest such brownfield development underway in New Jersey, with 3,500 housing units, 3 million square feet of office space, 300,000 square feet of retail space and a riverside park.