In an era when most major football clubs have either developed or are planning new stadiums, or redeveloping existing ones, Al Watson outlines the importance of sporting hubs for development, and some of the issues to be borne in mind
Sports stadiums have become hubs for sustainable development; they deliver those three prized pillars – economic, social and environmental sustainable development. But the somewhat Victorian tradition of building sporting grounds in towns and city centres where they are not easily adapted or rebuilt means that, as those stadiums and sites become incapable of being improved, the need for relocation can bring about a double package of benefits:
• a new stadium with surrounding enabling development; and
• the old stadium site being regenerated for a new and vibrant use.
It is unsurprising that, in recent years, leading football clubs including Arsenal and Manchester City have moved to new homes, with Tottenham Hotspur the next Premier League team scheduled to leave its traditional White Hart Lane ground for a bright and shiny arena capable of accommodating many more season ticket holders.
But not every club picks up and moves on – Liverpool FC, following years of consideration of potential options, this season opened a redeveloped main stand that enabled it to add around 8,500 seats and increase total capacity to 54,000. Clearly the wrench of leaving Anfield would have been a big one, and the potential heartache in taking on debt for a new stadium was even bigger. Meanwhile, Manchester United’s famous Old Trafford stadium can hold more than 75,000 following a 2006 expansion and subsequent reordering, and plans for a further increase resurfaced this year.
But, while individual clubs may opt for different solutions, in the real estate industry, it is widely recognised that sporting hubs are much more than a pitch and some stands – they are agents for change.
New for old
That is not to say that moving on is easy in real estate, planning or fanbase terms. The constraints of land use and history bring about a different outcome for some clubs and projects. Let’s start by considering that “double whammy” of benefits that communities, sports clubs, fans and the real estate industry get from a “new for old” type project.
The lifecycle of sports stadiums and just how long they last seems to be relatively short. This is precisely why, over time, you get a steady build-up of stadium layout and surrounding land being added to or enhanced in a “nip and tuck” manner. Then there comes a point when the expectations of fans, sponsors, and clubs themselves, as well as the demands of broadcasters and regulatory requirements, present clubs and their owners with the realisation that it is time to pick up, move on and recreate history somewhere else.
The first part of the process is then site selection – where else can you get the land necessary to provide a stadium with, perhaps, some enabling development around it, such as retail or housing, or both? While a sports ground will be quiet out of season, the need for stadiums to be hubs of sustainable development means that a masterplan for a new stadium should have within it the vision for additional and alternative uses on non-match days and additional development around it which helps create the sense of place and space. This also creates capital contributions and revenue to go towards the new stadium.
The long-term vision of the owners of Saracens Rugby Club in taking the rugby club from amateur to professional and, in the process, double champions in England and Europe, resulted in a move to a redeveloped and enhanced athletic stadium in the green belt, boasting the first ever 4G artificial pitch in English professional top tier rugby.
While the stadium, known as Allianz Park, is busy and lively on match days, it comes to life on other days as the surrounding communities, schools and sporting institutions use the 4G pitch and the athletics ground. The stadium is also used as a sporting educational hub by Middlesex University. This mix of activities, providing benefits for many, flourishes on the edge of north London.
The journey of Saracens across north London, into Hertfordshire and then back into north London is an interesting one as it shows how the change from amateur to professional expectations brought with it real estate and planning benefits. Without the vision of Saracens, the old Copthall stadium in Barnet would have become a year-on-year crumbling asset for the local authority.
The much-discussed journey of West Ham United from Upton Park to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford looks to have been a commercial deal for all sides – the need to find an enduring sporting tenant to avoid the legacy stadium becoming difficult to manage on the one hand, with the club’s old home, the Boleyn Ground, being revamped by way of demolition and residential development on the other. A willing seller has to have a willing buyer – and the extent to which West Ham got a bargain, or not, reflects the fact that without a long-term tenant that provides match day and non-match day activities, there would have been a significant hit on the public purse. As a result, the enduring memories of the 2012 Olympic Games could well have been lost in a failed masterplan – rather than a football club taking on the role and responsibility of creating and perpetuating a viable, social, economic and environmental hub.
Planning problems
The “new for old” stadium model certainly brings benefits to clubs, fans, communities and the real estate industry. Site search, land assembly (whether by negotiation or by compulsory purchase), the need for masterplans and land zoning, the creation of transport hubs and the creation and revitalisation of the old stadium site for new and more suitable development all require innovative input, knowledge and enthusiasm from all parts of our industry.
But the land assembly problems that were encountered by the Tottenham stadium development, which resulted in a compulsory purchase order (CPO), are an illustration of the fact that, although most people should regard stadium schemes as being the epitome of sustainable development, sometimes people simply cannot agree on the price, the value and the importance of land. The CPO inquiry process that was undertaken, and then the resulting delay resulting from the appeal and judicial review process, had implications for the football club and also the wider community.
In west London, where Chelsea are advancing their own new stadium plans, the sensitivity of the surrounding area in built heritage and urban ecology terms is evident by the extent to which the local authority is having to go into further requests for information on the consideration of the impacts of construction activity on the local bat population. Like it or not, bats are a protected species and the fact that you get the result of sustainable development does not mean that end will justify the means. The often painstaking process of environmental mitigation still has to be thought through for the good of the system, the resulting development and the benefit of the surrounding area.
Not just for match days
Major stadium moves result in long-running projects on two sites, which reflect the complexity of the real estate and planning discussions, and the need to make the best available use of land. And increasingly there is a pattern with new stadium projects for the commercial and planning needs to take into account a wider range of uses on non-match days.
That could be community use, such as amateur or semi-pro sports, or business use by way of events and hospitality. A new stadium can act as a business hub for surrounding small and medium-sized businesses, creating social value through the interaction of the football club with local businesses, schools and the wider community.
That social value assessment exercise has become increasingly common by way of both the local authority’s requirement to act under The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2013 and the wish for sporting institutions which have strong roots in their communities to illustrate just how much value they bring to the area. This latter aspect has, until recently, not been assessed and valued and weighed in the planning and real estate process.
The real estate industry should be excited about the opportunities that these regeneration projects give all of us. They test our professional abilities to make the best use of land, and provide vibrant and exciting designs and places of space in what are often constrained urban environments. They bring about improvements and increases in provision of public transport. They initiate changes in relationships, for the better, between clubs and fans and sponsors and investors. In thinking about the delivery of the three pillars of sustainable development, those sporting clubs and hubs are superb examples of economic, environmental and social investment.
Al Watson is head of planning and environment at international law firm Taylor Wessing
