The Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor has bought the home of Cambridge United Football Club as part of plans to build a new development pipeline.
Grosvenor, which on Thursday (15 April) announced a reduced pretax loss of £235.8m for 2009, bought the 6.1-acre site for £3.5m from businessman John Howard’s Bideawhile vehicle.
It is now working with the club on redevelopment plans for the
The club sold the site to then director Howard in 2004 due to financial difficulties.
A Grosvenor spokesperson said: “It has been well discussed both within the club and at a city-wide level that there is a need for a better stadium in
“We see this as an opportunity to unlock the potential for the site and help create a first-class sporting facility for
“Redevelopment might involve moving the stadium but that is not a foregone conclusion.
“There are a number of possible sites the club could move to but it is too early to give any more information on this.
“Any redevelopment plan needs to be properly considered and in consultation with CUFC, the shareholders and other stakeholders in the City.”
Grosvenor has been active in the city since the development of the Grafton Centre more than 30 years ago.
Recent projects include the Cambridge Grand Arcade and residential development Trumpington Meadows.
Earlier this year Grosvenor took over a project to redevelop the fire station next to Parker’s Piece into homes.
That deal and the stadium acquisition fit a shift away from major regeneration projects, such as Grosvenor’s Liverpool One, to focus on smaller-scale mixed-use and residential developments in
