January 3 – Everton CEO Robert Elstone has confirmed the costs of the club’s proposed new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock have “escalated significantly”. Target date for opening of the new 50-55,000 capacity stadium is the 2022-23 season.
Originally estimated at £300 million to build, costs are being revised upwards though understood not to be in the region of the £700 million costs of Totten ham Hotspur’s new stadium of a similar size.
Everton Stadium Development Ltd, a subsidiary of the club, signed a 200-year lease with with Peel Land and Property to lease part of Bramley Moore Dock in November last year. The lease is contingent on securing planning permission and funding to build the new ground.
Elstone said that the lease was key to the next level of planning. “Gaining control of the site was essential for us to be able to move forward with the next stages of the project – finalising the funding agreement with the council and preparing for the submission of a planning application – both of which we hope to do in the new year.”
Stadium designs are expected early this year from Meis Architects. “The premium for the waterfront site, an ambitious capacity that we will test with more rigor, a design we can all be proud of and the simple but painful impact of inflation have all contributed to an increased overall cost and a funding target which continues to grow,” Elstone said.
Elstone said the club is close to completing the fund-raising required for the next phase.
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