February 20 – Everton have appointed construction firm Laing O’Rourke to build the club’s new £500 million, 52,000-seat stadium under a pre-construction services agreement.
Everton submitted plans to Liverpool city council just before Christmas with a decision on the plans expected this summer. Work on the new stadium is expected to start later this year and is expected to take three years.
The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will form part of developer Peel’s £5.5 billion Liverpool Waters scheme.
The club say the scheme will “have a transformational impact on North Liverpool, kick-starting the regeneration of the northern docklands, contributing a £1 billion boost to the city region’s economy, creating up to 15,000 jobs and attracting 1.4 million visitors to the city each year.”
The plans for the proposed waterfront stadium comprise of four distinctive stands, including a large, steep ‘home end’ which will house 13,000 Evertonians.
Everton said it will send in a separate outline planning application to redevelop Goodison where its plans include up to 48 houses and 160 apartments as well as offices, shops, healthcare and education facilities plus additional homes for supported living. Apartments would be built in towers of anything up to nine storeys.
Everton Chief Executive Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale said: “Appointing Laing O’Rourke is another important step towards delivering a new world-class waterfront stadium for Everton.
“There is still a lot of work to do on this project. Working alongside colleagues at Laing O’Rourke we will develop our construction programme, while at the same time continuing to engage with our supporters on a number of matters as we await our planning application to be determined by Liverpool City Council.”
Dubbed the People’s Project, the club said that the development will see £255 million spent through the local supply chains; £34 million worth local income for local families working across the project; an acceleration of local developments (Liverpool Waters and Ten Streets) worth over £650 million; an annual boost of £2.2m in Council Tax receipts; Business Rates income of £1.7 million per year, and £793.4 million of societal value between 2024 and 2033 compared to £556 million generated solely through Everton in the Community activity.
Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball.com