The Georgia World Congress Center Authority board voted Monday morning unanimously to approve terms to provide the framework for a deal on a new downtown stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.

The board, OK’d a 24-page non-binding term sheet that will be the basis for further negotiations toward a more definitive, binding agreement between the GWCCA and the Falcons.

The new stadium, scheduled to open in 2017, will house the Falcons, as well as other sports, convention and entertainment events. The business terms call for the construction of a new operable roof stadium and associated project improvements on the GWCCA campus. The GWCCA and the Atlanta Falcons will now begin to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

According to a release from the GWCC, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement on business terms that will form the basis of a definitive agreement with the Atlanta Falcons on the development of a new stadium,” GWCCA Executive Director Frank Poe said. “In addition, we are initiating a selection process for an architect and design team to run concurrent with the development of the MOU.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had earlier reported that the deal covers who would own the stadium and how it would be funded.

Estimates for building a stadium have ranged from $948 million to more than $1 billion.