Stable finiteness properties of infinite discrete groups

Let $G$ be an infinite discrete group. A classifying space for proper actions of $G$ is a proper $G$-CW-complex $X$ such that the fixed point sets $X^H$ are contractible for all finite subgroups $H$ of $G$. In this paper we consider the stable analogue of the classifying space for proper actions in the category of proper $G$-spectra and study its finiteness properties. We investigate when $G$ admits a stable classifying space for proper actions that is finite or of finite type and relate these conditions to the compactness of the sphere spectrum in the homotopy category of proper $G$-spectra and to classical finiteness properties of the Weyl groups of finite subgroups of $G$. Finally, if the group $G$ is virtually torsion-free we also show that the smallest possible dimension of a stable classifying space for proper actions coincides with the virtual cohomological dimension of $G$, thus providing the first geometric interpretation of the virtual cohomological dimension of a group.